


Savior's Calling

by slavetothepen (therunawaypen)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Voldemort Wins, BAMF Harry, Dimension Travel, F/M, Harry aint taking shit this time, Harry saves the world again, M/M, Rebellion, Slow Burn, slight romance, underground rebellion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2014-07-15
Packaged: 2018-02-05 10:38:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 41,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1815505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therunawaypen/pseuds/slavetothepen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world without Harry Potter, Voldemort reigns supreme while the Order of the Phoenix tries to rebel against him. Desperate, the Order uses a dark and ancient spell to bring forth a hero. A hero who already defeated Voldemort.</p><p>Meanwhile, Harry is trying to adjust to life without Voldemort, only to find that he misses the life of adventure he grew up with. </p><p>Finding himself pulled into an alternate world, a world in which he was never born, Harry must once again defeat Voldemort. But while things in this new world look bleak, Harry has the advantage of knowing exactly what he needs to do.</p><p>But of course, Harry friends back home are quick to realize he is missing...and they aren't going to let him have an adventure on his own (he'd get himself killed without them).</p><p>And how does one blond former Slytherin fit into this whole fiasco?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is an old fic I had on ff.net. I never managed to finish it, mainly because I lost all of my ff.net information,so I can't access the story, but maybe I'll find inspiration now that I'm posting it again. I hope you all enjoy it!

_[In a world without Harry Potter...]_

If ever silence was threatening or menacing, it would have been deep in the dungeons of Castle Slytherin. The dungeons were once used as the common room and dormitories for the Slytherin house back when the castle was a school. But that was before the rise of the Serpent King. Now the dungeons, now known as the Adder's Lair, acted as an archive of all magic, kept away from anyone except the Kings followers. Shelves and shelves of books on runes, potions, curses and countless unknown magic filled the rooms that made up the Adder's Lair, most never seen by witch or wizard.

But at that moment, the Adder’s Lair echoed with the sounds of footsteps and the occasional rustle of a cloak as a lone figure moved quickly through the aisles of lost magic. A pale hand gently brushed the spines of each book, muttering the titles under his breath as he quickly scanned each and every shelf. Finally the figure paused, almost stunned, just staring at a massive red tome. The faint glow from his wand cast an eerie glow onto the pale face of Draco Malfoy.

“By Merlin…It does exist…” The words fell from thin lips, his grey eyes fixed on the volume. After a moment of silence, the hand not holding his wand reached up and grabbed the text, pulling it from the shelf. Unfortunately, the volume weighed more than Draco’s single hand could handle. Making a quick descent to the floor, the tome filled the Adder’s Lair with a dull thud and caused several smaller books to fall from their perches on the higher shelves. Draco shielded himself as best he could from the rain of texts, but one particular leather-bound volume managed to catch his shoulder. Biting his lip in frustration, Draco gripped his sore shoulder.

 “Damnit…of all the times to be clumsy…” But there was no time to waste cursing his own awkwardness, all the books that had fallen had to be put back into place, lest someone notice his presence there that night. As each book was placed back on the shelves, Draco’s heart beat faster and harder, as though every moment wasted in that chamber could be the moment that could end his life. In a way, he was right. As he held the last book, that blasted leather-bound monstrosity, preparing to put it back in place, the doors to the Adder’s Lair began to open. Draco began to panic, the book belonged on the top shelf, if he tried to put it back he could lose the precious time he needed to escape with the book he needed, making his mission absolutely pointless. But if he took it…

It was barely and instant before Draco made his decision, shoving the small text into an enchanted bag. The footsteps were getting closer, from what Draco could hear. Perhaps only four, maybe five aisles away from where he was hiding. The blonde’s heart beat frantically in his chest as he tried to lift the book from the floor.

Three aisles. Draco struggled to hold the tome and open the enchanted bag. To his horror, the pale man discovered that the massive tome was larger than the mouth of the bad. Frantically, Draco tried to force the book into the bag.

Two aisles. The seam of the bag popped under the force of Draco’s struggle, damaging the magic of the bag. But Draco was relieved to find that the book slid into the damaged bad. Unfortunately, while the bag would appear to be as empty as before, the damaged spell could no longer conceal the weight of the two books.

One aisle. With much effort, Draco was able to move the bag onto his shoulder, trying not to be effected by the extra weight. He had his prize, now all he had to do was escape. If only he could-

“Who goes there?!” A harsh voice commanded Draco. Draco turned ever so slowly to face Deatheater, lowering his wand as he did so. The guard had his lit wand merely inches from Draco’s face. With a sigh, Draco removed his hood.

“Could you get your filthy wand out of my face?” The blonde said with a sneer. The Deatheater seemed startled by Draco’s bold statement.

“Young Lord!” The guard exclaimed, making a hasty bow. “What are you doing down in the Lair?”

Draco’s eyes narrowed, “I don’t believe that is any of your business what I do in this castle.”

“Oh no! Of course not. I was just curious…”

“It is not your place to be curious.”

“N-no it’s not…”

“Good, now that that issue is settled, I have better things to do than waste my precious time blathering with you.” Draco drawled, making his way out of the Adder’s Lair. The blonde grit his teeth in effort to keep from showing the weighted of the stolen books.

To Draco’s dismay, the Deatheater flunky followed him out into the hallways, “Young Lord, I should warn you that there has been a break-in and the intruder has yet to be caught.”

‘ _Curses…’_ “And you expect me to be worried by this news?” Draco arched an eyebrow in mock amusement.

The guard quickly tried to amend his error, “No! I just thought that you should know…”

Draco let out a cruel laugh, making the harden Deatheater cringe, “Why don’t you do something useful,” The blonde sneered, “and focus on catching the intruder and stop following me like a lost puppy.” With that, Draco turned and, leaving the Deatheater guard rooted on the spot, quickly made his way down the hall.

‘ _I have to get out of here fast!’_ Draco’s heart was once again was racing as he turned the various corridors of Castle Slytherin, rushing to make his way to the main hall. ‘ _It’s only a matter of time before-’_

Draco’s train of thought was abruptly stopped as he turned into the entry hall of Castle Slytherin, only to come face to face with none other than Draco Malfoy— the real Draco Malfoy.

Time seemed to stop as the two Draco’s stared at each other, one dressed in the finest black robes with delicate silver trim and embroidery while the other wore a threadbare black cloak. One wore an emerald pendant around his neck, the other had a damaged bag hanging from his shoulder. One was Draco Malfoy, heir of the Serpent King, known to his enemies as The Taipan;  the other was an imposter, the intruder.

The observation felt like it lasted for an eternity although in the harsh reality of the imposter, all this information took only a moment to process. And it was in that next moment that both Draco’s made their moves.

The Princely Draco opened his mouth, “G—!”

“ _Stupefy!”_ In a flash of red, pampered heir fell stunned to the marble floor. The strict training and constant paranoia of the imposter had gained him precious time, time he intended on using to the fullest. The blonde Prince had barely hit the floor before the intruder was running out of the massive double doors, clutching his stolen goods close to his chest. It was only a matter of time now, even if the heir hadn’t been able to call the guards, the fact that he had been stunned would arouse alarm, and with the castle already on high alert, security would be much harder getting out than getting in. That is, if the fake Draco had planned on using the front gate.

The weight of the books was quickly tiring the imposter, but there was no time to try and rest. Already, he could hear the entire assembly of Deatheaters gathering to find him, some already on his trail. As if to confirm his suspicions, a flash of green whizzed past the intruders shoulder, illustrating just how close he was to death. But he couldn’t worry about the spells being fired in his direction, all he could focus on was making it to his exit, one of the only things that not even the Serpent King had managed to destroy when he made Hogwarts Castle into Castle Slytherin.

He could see the branches of the willow as he turned the last turn, making a dead sprint to the tree despite the dead weight of his bounty. The Whomping Willow twitched, aware of the chaos approaching it. If the willow so desired, it could easily kill the intruder as well as every Deatheater present with one bone crushing swing of any of its boughs. The fake Draco was quite aware of the tree’s capabilities, but refused to let himself worry about that. He just needed to get to the tree. Less than 10 feet to go…

“ _Avada Kedavra!”_   A voice behind him bellowed. The intruder knew he only had a split second to react, and he did. The spell hadn’t even been completed before he made a mad lunge for the tree, or more importantly, the tunnel at the base of the tree.

The jump would have been good if it hadn’t been for the massive weight of the stolen books. The intruder hit the ground with a sickening thud, but it was enough to avoid certain death and he was close enough to make a mad crawl into the tunnel as the killing curse hit the trunk of the willow. As the Draco imposter looked back towards the entrance to see if he had been followed, the sounds of chaos and the crunching of branches reached his ears.

Knowing that no one would be able to follow him, the fake Draco was able to move at a less urgent pace. His mission was still not complete, but at least he was out of immediate danger.

 _‘I wouldn’t have even been in danger at all if I hadn’t met the blasted Taipan…’_   The imposter winced as the strap to his bag cut into his shoulder, ‘ _But it’s alright…I got what I needed, now all I have to do is get it back to the others.’_

The tunnel led to a pile of rubble on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. In years previous, there had been a house standing in its place, but that had been many years ago, before the rise of the Serpent King. Now what was once a house was nothing more than a pile of broken wood and glass.

Pulling himself from the rubble, the rebel spy took a quick look around before breathing a sigh of relief. A breath breathed too soon, as not one, but two wands pointed at the blond’s throat.

“State your name.” A hooded man demanded, pressing the tip of his wand to the fake Draco’s Adams apple.

Surprisingly, instead of panicking, the rebel relaxed at the demand. Deatheaters would never ask a question before firing a curse, meaning these men were comrades.

“Mirage.” The Draco imposter stated simply, looking up to the faces of the hooded men.

The other man only responded with another demand, “If you are Mirage, then drop your disguise.”

The Draco imposter, otherwise known as Mirage, nodded as best he could. Soon the platinum blond hair of the Taipan faded to a mousy brown, his sharp features became the softer features of a woman and the piecing gray eyes of the Serpent King’s successor became dark. In short, Mirage was revealed to be not a him at all, but one Nymphadora Tonks.

“Am I allowed to ask who is meeting me here?” Nymphadora, Mirage, asked quietly as the wands were lowered from her throat.

“Eclipse.”

“Prodigal.”

The answers were short, but they told Nymphadora everything she needed to know as she stood up, clutching her bag close to her body.

“Did you get it?” Prodigal asked before he could help himself.

Eclipse was quick to shush his comrade, “Not here! We have to get back to Sweets before we can talk more.” The other two rebels nodded in agreement as Eclipse’s hand receded into the pocket of his cloak. As the hand returned into view, Prodigal and Mirage were able to see a single feather.

A phoenix feather. 

“Take hold.” The command was simple, but neither Mirage nor Prodigal said a word, only obeying Eclipse.

The three stood for almost a minute, just holding onto the feather. Not a word was shared, no movements were made, the three rebels just stood perfectly still, clinging to the feather, waiting.

Finally, as the third minute began to tick by, a familiar tug from behind each of their navels was felt and the rebels vanished from the pile of rubble.

* * *

 

Nymphadora hit the ground hard when they landed; thrown off by the heavy books she stole as she toppled sideways. She was only able to break her fall with one hand, afraid to let go of her precious cargo.

Eclipse knelt beside her, “Are you alright?”

Nymphadora nodded, “I will be once we get inside…come on.” The only woman in the group made her way to the door of their hideout, Eclipse and Prodigal following close behind.

As the three stood in front of the massive wooden door, a feminine voice could be heard on the other side. A small peephole opened, and a single eye stared at the three of them.

“State your names.” The demand was the same, and so were the answers.

“Mirage.”

“Eclipse.”

“Prodigal.”

The eye behind the door twinkled slightly before the peephole shut. After a few moments of locks clicking and handles turning, the door opened slowly to reveal a disheveled Molly Weasley. “Well don’t just stand out there you three, hurry in.”

Nymphadora smiled softly at Molly. Even in the middle of a war, she could scold anyone for standing outside in the cold too long. The three were barely inside when Molly shut the door behind them, reactivating the wards.

Eclipse nodded to the Weasley witch as she removed his cloak, “Thank you Molly.”

Molly smiled softly, “It’s no problem at all, Remus.”

Remus Lupin, codename Eclipse, smiled in return, a weary and brittle expression.  

Prodigal huffed, throwing his hood off, “Not to sound rude or anything, but I want to hear about my cousin’s happy adventure in Castle Slytherin.”

Hitting her cousin in the shoulder, Nymphadora rolled her eyes, “Knock it off Sirius. You know we have to wait for Albus before I say anything about my mission.”

“Oh come off it Dora, of course I know.” Sirius Black, otherwise known as Prodigal, replied as he hung his cloak next to Remus’s.

“You sure don’t seem like it.” A new voice added. The four in the entry way turned their attention to the man at the stairway.

Sirius chuckled, “You know I’m only playing James.”

James Potter only nodded, his one good eye watching Dora, “Albus wants all of us in his study now.”

Even Molly Weasley didn’t argue as the five made their way up the stairs and into the largest room in their makeshift headquarters. As the newcomers entered the room, they saw that they were not the only ones that had been requested. The room was filled with people, men, women and even a few that some would have classified as children. Some were young, some were old, and some were terribly scared like James, whose left eye would be forever covered by a patch, while some looked like they had only just begun to fight. But regardless of who they were, they were all members of the Order of the Phoenix.

And all declared outlaws by the Serpent King.

At the center of the room, sitting in a ragged arm chair, sat none other than Albus Dumbledore. He was by far the oldest among them (although no one would ever go so far as to ask him his age) and he was at the top of the Serpent King’s wanted list.

So naturally he was their leader.

Dora made her way towards Dumbledore, aware that all eyes were on her. She could see Sirius and Remus standing next to James, who had his arm around his wife Lily.  Across from the Potters stood Frank and Alice Longbottom; and beside them stood the entire Weasley clan, excluding the younger sons of course. 

But Dora was neither, and she made that clear as she stood in front of Dumbledore, tired and shaken from her near death experience. Dumbledore gazed into Dora’s eyes, his once twinkling eyes now only searching. The young rebel didn’t fight the aged wizard’s _Legilimency_ ; there would have been no point. Instead she let Dumbledore probe where he needed to.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Dumbledore’s eyes began to twinkle again, “I’m glad you’re safe Nymphadora.” The old man steepled his fingers, “I trust you were able to recover the text?”

The young woman nodded, holding up her heavy burden, “Of course, but it wasn’t easy.”

“You weren’t hurt were you?” Alice Longbottom said in alarm.

The Metamorphagus shook her head. “No, I was able to get away…but I did run into the Taipan.” Tonks added this last bit of information reluctantly. The entire room soon was in a giant uproar, some amazed, some taken aback and some absolutely terrified.

Molly Weasley let out an exaggerated gasp, “Nymphadora! I _told_ you it was too dangerous! Albus, how could you send her on such a terrible mission?!”

Albus Dumbledore simply took the massive tome from Dora’s bag. The room began to quiet as the old man flipped through the crumbling yellow pages, “This, Molly, is why I sent Nymphadora into Castle Slytherin.” With some effort, Dumbledore showed the text to the entire room.

It was an old spell to be sure. Hell, Dora didn’t even understand a word of it, the entire text had been written in Latin. But she did see several complex looking diagrams, some with incantations and some without, but as to what it did, she had no idea.

James was the first to speak after Dumbledore unveiled the spell to the Order, his one eye staring at the spell, “Albus, I understand that you are very knowledgeable about spells and everything, but…how is this spell important to us?”

Albus Dumbledore stood, causing the entire assembly to take a step back, “My dear James, this spell could very well save us all.”

* * *

_[In a world with Harry Potter...]_

_Ug, why does the sun rise so early?_  Harry Potter groaned, trying to shield his eyes from the offending sunlight.

What Harry didn’t know was that it was actually almost noon and he had slept almost half of the day away. But to his credit, Harry’s bedroom window did face east, insuring the sunrise would wake him up if he didn’t shut his blinds.

What Harry must have forgotten was the fact that he had fallen asleep on his living room couch. But he quickly remembered this when he rolled over, only to fall onto the hardwood floor.

“Ug….”  Harry groaned, groping for his glasses. Said glasses had somehow made their way across the living room and were on the mantle above the fireplace, making it very difficult for Harry to fine them. By the time he finally was able to locate his glasses, it was past noon, which Harry finally was able to notice once he could see.

“Damn, I didn’t think I slept that long.” The savior of the wizarding world muttered as he made his way to his room to put on a fresh change of clothes, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He could remember that there had been a time when his home at 12 Grimmauld Place had been used as a hideout during a time of war.

Despite the bad memories, Harry couldn’t help but smile at the thought of all of the adventures he had.

Adventure had always been a part of Harry’s life, even before he discovered he was a wizard. Of course, at the time he hadn’t thought that running away from Dudley and his gang had been much of an adventure, but as he looked back on it, he could think fondly of all the fences he jumped and all the trees he climbed.

Then he had learned that he was a wizard. That in itself had been an adventure, with meeting Hagrid and shopping on Diagon Alley. But even after he arrived at Hogwarts, life was full of adventures. After all, how many 11 year olds could say that they defeated a mountain troll, became the youngest seeker in the century and managed to successfully navigate through challenges designed by people more than four times his age and then foil the plot of the most evil wizard in history?

And that was only the beginning. There had never been a year in which Harry wasn't fighting for his life. Harry hadn’t even been able to celebrate turning 17 properly, being the target of Voldemort’s manhunt. Even when he tried to attend a wedding like a normal person, Voldemort decided to take over the ministry, forcing Harry, Ron and Hermione to spend the entire year searching for pieces of Voldemort’s soul and destroying them. The trio hadn’t even been done with this before a massive battle at Hogwarts erupted, causing everyone to show their true colors, like Neville, who managed to prove to everyone present that he deserved to be in Gryffindor house. And of course, everything boiled down to Harry and Voldemort fighting one on one against each other, and Harry made history (again, but everyone had lost count of how many times the boy made history at this point) by defeating the darkest wizard of the modern age with a simple _Expelliarmus._

Yes, now the wizarding world was safe at last. Hogwarts had been restored with several memorials (and one God awful statue of Harry standing over Voldemort) and the rest of the Deatheaters had either been killed or captured. Finally, life was safe, life was peaceful, life was calm.

Life was boring.

To give Harry credit, he had tried to find a life after the war. He did join the Aurors for a trial run (they conveniently forgot he never graduated Hogwarts), but…once one defeats the Dark Lord with the simplest spell in the spell book, dark wizards rarely put up a fight. Once, Harry had tried to conduct his own interrogation, but the supposed dark wizard burst into tears at the sight of the young hero. Most of what Harry did was paper work, which was the last thing he wanted.

So Harry spent most of his days sleeping, visiting friends, and then going back to his house to sleep more. As Harry rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he glanced at the clock on the wall.

“2:30…sounds like a good time for a drink to me.” Harry mumbled, pulling on a clean shirt before checking his appearance in the mirror. Messy black hair? Check. Pale skin? Check. Glasses and green eyes? Check. Scar?

_Check_

* * *

 

 

Luckily for Harry, 2:30 was the Leaky Cauldron’s slow time. There was hardly anyone in the dark pub, which meant that there was no one to point and stare or to ask for autographs or pictures. Not that Harry minded signing a picture for a child or shaking a few peoples’ hands, but at the moment, he just wanted some peace, quiet, and a tall mug of Butterbeer.

Even though Harry had more adventure in his first 17 years of life than most people could ever hope to achieve, he still thrived for more. Hermione had called it an adrenalin addiction, but Harry just called it a want of adventure. In fact, the only time he enjoyed the peace was when he was sleeping in his own bed and when he was drinking. There was just something about having a drink and no one bothering you for hero stories…

Harry was surprised when a wizard sat next to him, with all the room at the bar open. But then Harry recognized the light blond hair.

“Like to drink on the off hours do you, Potter?” Draco Malfoy asked casually, his greeting holding none of the bite it would have had they been in Hogwarts. Now, it was just a normal greeting.

Harry nodded, “I wouldn’t have thought you would have been a big fan of the Leaky Cauldron for your drinking Malfoy.”

The blond gave a nonchalant shrug, “You aren’t the only one who doesn’t want to be stared at all the time.”

Harry was still unsure of what to think of Draco. On one hand, he had been a royal pain in the ass almost all of his years of Hogwarts and had resulted in Deatheaters taking over Hogwarts near the end of their years. Definitely not a way to get onto Harry’s good side.

But on the other hand, the blond had only been guilty of being a brat during Hogwarts, and there were worse traits than that. And Draco had only done what Voldemort asked because he feared for his family.

Harry had figured out during the battle that the Malfoys’ allegiance lay not with Voldemort, but with the safety of their family. The pureblooded family was Slytherin in the purest sense, in the sense that they were cunning and had a strong sense of self preservation.

It had been a surprise at first to Harry when Draco tried to stop his friends from attacking Harry and his friends. Harry had been more surprised when Narcissa Malfoy lied to Voldemort’s face for a chance to see her son was safe. Most women, or men for that matter, would have never dared lie to Voldemort, but to Narcissa Malfoy, her little boy was worth the risk.

“I suppose you’re right.” Harry muttered, taking a swig of his Butterbeer. Draco gave a small nod before ordering a Butterbeer for himself. For some reason, this surprised Harry. Maybe it was years of seeing Draco act like a spoiled brat that liked expensive things, but Harry would have never imagined Draco drinking Butterbeer in a dark Pub at 2:30 in the afternoon. Maybe the war had humbled Draco…no, there was no maybe to that statement. Draco Malfoy was almost a different man from the boy Harry knew in his Hogwarts years.

But as Draco took the first sip of Butterbeer, Harry could see a thin silver bracelet that was wrapped tightly around the blond’s wrist.

After the war, Harry had personally testified for Draco and Narcissa (there hadn’t been much that could have helped Lucius, but the man accepted his fate with grace). When Draco had been on trial for the murder of Albus Dumbledore, Harry had shown everyone his memory of that night, much to the shock of Draco and Narcissa. That, along with Harry’s testimony that Narcissa had aided him the night of the battle, had insured that both Malfoy’s would escape Azkaban.

Unfortunately, there had been nothing Harry could have done to save Narcissa and Draco’s wands. The ministry had declared that although they were innocent, there were still considered dangerous (much to the frustration of Harry). Now, both Malfoys wore enchanted bracelets that would prevent them from ever using wands again.

“Still enjoying the quiet life Potter?” The blond asked, setting his mug down. Due to the mug being overly full to begin with, some of the Butterbeer had sloshed out onto the bar. After a quick look around, Draco waved his hand over the mess, “ _Scourgify._ ”

“Not as much as I had hoped,” Harry replied honestly as the spilled Butterbeer cleaned itself from the counter at Draco’s command.

The Ministry hadn’t said anything about the Malfoys using wandless magic.

Harry couldn’t help but smile at the memory of the first time he had offered to teach Draco wandless magic. The blond had been wary of Harry after he had testified for Draco and his mother, and was less than eager to admit that Harry could help him…again. But after quite a few persistent visits, Harry had convinced Draco to learn wandless magic. Harry’s argument had been that even if Draco didn’t use the magic every day, he could now have the ability to protect his mother in case a vigilante ever decided the Malfoys hadn’t been punished enough.

Harry’s smile faded slightly. He wished he could say that he had wanted to teach Draco because it was the right thing to do or that he felt they had been unjustly served. In reality, Harry had simply been bored, and teaching his onetime school rival how to use wandless magic had been, at the very least, amusing.

“The quiet life has always been over rated.” Draco said casually, drinking his Butterbeer.

How right he was.

 

* * *

 

It was late when Harry finally made it back home. Draco was a surprisingly good conversationalist over a round of Butterbeers. And Draco didn’t have a significant other to bicker with constantly.

Not that Harry couldn’t stand Ron and Hermione, he loved them like a brother and sister. But too much of a good thing would most definitely make any of them sick. Sometimes Harry knew that the blossoming couple needed their space.

And now the bachelor was on his own, looking for something to do. He had just been drinking, and it was too early to go to sleep.

That’s when Harry spied his father’s Invisibility Cloak hanging on the coat rack. The young hero could feel a smile spread across his face at the memories he had with that cloak at Hogwarts.

Hogwarts…

That’s what he could do. Hermione had told Harry that there were a lot of changes that had occurred when Hogwarts had been rebuilt, which meant a lot of new and different secret passages ways, each with different passwords and openings.

Harry’s smile turned into a full blown grin as he raced up to his room to fetch the Marauder's Map from his bed side table. He couldn’t even remember a time after the war that he had been so excited.

Harry tucked the map in his coat pocket for safekeeping, _Off for my own adventure for the night_ , He mused as he threw the cloak around himself, eager for his next adventure.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

The entire room stood in silence after hearing Dumbledore speak, just staring at the aged pages of the tome. The thought of a single spell saving them all, ending the war, defeating Voldemort, destroying the reign that he had instilled on the wizarding world…was incredible.

Finally, Frank Longbottom broke the silence, “It sounds too good to be true…what kind of spell could do such a thing?”

Dumbledore set the massive book on the desk behind him before facing his audience again, “To be…well, frank, it is a very old spell. Even older than myself, if one could believe it. The spell’s creation dates back to before the excessive use of wands, back when incantations needed to be paired with difficult arrays.”

The old wizard paused, waiting for a question. Of course, no one dared to interrupt until he was done, “This particular spell is special because it is not limited to this world.”

At this, there were a few looks shared amongst the Order members, coaxing murmurs to ripple throughout the crowd.

“Surely you don’t mean to tell us -“

“I do mean to tell you, if you would let me James,” Dumbledore said patiently, his voice keeping an even tone, “There are other worlds and timelines than this current one. Our world and our time is just one of infinite timelines, and no two worlds are the same. Some worlds could so vastly different they are past the point of recognition. Some worlds could possibly be altered by a single decision. But if there are worlds that differ from ours, we must hope that this war has gone differently there.

James opened his mouth to interrupt once more, but a sharp elbow into his ribcage, delivered by his wife, made him hold his tongue.

“If there is a chance that this war has ended differently, then there is a chance, hopefully, somewhere in the endless possibilities of timelines, there is one who has defeated Voldemort-” As Dumbledore said the name of their enemy, there was not a single shudder or cringe, but several clenched fists, “One who has destroyed the evil that has plagued us, one who can be our savior…that is what this spell does.”

Silence once again filled the room as Dumbledore finished speaking, each member of the Order thinking of the possibilities that could happen with the spell that lay open on the desk. Alice Longbottom took hold of her husband’s hand while James wrapped his arm around Lily, both couples taking comfort in each other.

“We should get started immediately then,” Frank stated strongly as he moved to the desk to look at the spell.

Dumbledore nodded, “Yes, I agree completely, but in order to complete the array, we will need the largest room we can get…and for us, that would be the basement.”

With this, the old wizard sent a pointed look towards one Remus Lupin, who nodded. “Of course, I won’t be needing the basement for another three weeks.” The aging werewolf eagerly supplied, “We could move the cage out of there for the spell.”

There was a twinkle in Dumbledore’s eye that seemed brighter than the old man’s eyes had been in a long time, “Splendid, I’m sure if everyone assists, it won’t take long to prepare at all.”

Everyone in the Order nodded, eagerly setting out to work on clearing out the basement. As the office emptied, Dumbledore cleared his throat, “Ah, Lily…could you wait a moment?”

At this, Lily Potter turned to face Dumbledore. James looked reluctant to leave his wife, but the auburn haired woman gave her husband a small smile and the man’s unease of letting his wife out of his sight was abated, allowing him to exit the room.

Once they were alone, Lily waited a few moments before speaking, “You wanted to speak with me sir?”

“Yes Lily, I did.” Dumbledore laid a hand on the spell everyone was so eager to perform, “I want you to see to the execution of this spell.”

The redhead tried to hide her surprise, “But sir, shouldn’t you be the one in charge?” 

Dumbledore chuckled quietly, “Lily, you have already proved to have an innate knowledge of spells and latin, plus you have an uncanny attention to detail, both qualities that I need for this spell to go off perfectly. Can I trust you with this Lily?”

 Lily Potter took a deep breath in, “You can count on me sir.”

 

* * *

 

“Do you really think that this spell could really end the war?” Sirius asked as the Order began to dismantle the iron cage that would contain Remus every month during his transformations.

James shrugged, “Dumbledore seems to think that it’ll work, and he hasn’t given us any reason doubt him yet.”

It seemed like the entire Order was in the dark basement trying to clear everything out to make room for the array that could possibly end the war for them. Even the younger Weasleys were doing whatever they could, carrying away whatever they could get their hands on. No one dared to use magic to clear the room because of the affect the magic could have on the spell that they were about to perform. Everyone was abuzz with the hope of peace. The thought of the war ending was causing quite a few members to begin dreaming of what their lives would be like after the war.

Frank and Alice were quietly clearing off the potion’s desk in the room, making sure not to break or damage any of the precious ingredients.

“…I almost don’t want to hope that this war could be over.” Alice whispered, holding a phial of monkswood carefully, “I don’t want to be disappointed…”

Frank gently kissed the top of her head, “Hope is all we have Alice.” He smiled softly as he cleared off all the papers on the desk.

Alice sighed as the couple worked together to lift the heavy desk, “You’re right, Frank.”  

But as they made their way out of the basement, Alice paused, looking down at her hands, “We could have a family again…”

Frank fell silent for a while, holding his end of the desk, “…Yeah…we could.”

The two stood for a moment before silently deciding to continue their work, carrying out the desk from the room, walking past James as he worked on dismantling the iron cage.

James’s one eye followed the Longbottoms as they made their way out of the room, his heart going out to the grieving couple. Even though the war had affected all of them, to James, the Longbottoms had suffered much worse than any of the rest of the Order. Not only were Frank and Alice hiding with the rest of them because they were outlaws, but they had also been forced to bury their only son when he was only a child. 

The Longbottoms certainly hadn’t been the only couple to lose a child during the war. James could remember the grief Molly and Arthur suffered when their only daughter was killed to “make an example” and label the Weasley’s as blood traitors. But the murder of Neville was the epitome of the Serpent King’s cruelty, because the infant’s death was nothing more than sadistic maniac killing a little boy in his crib. James couldn’t possibly imagine the pain one would have to lose a child, he would rather die before seeing his baby in a coffin. It was then that James was glad that he and Lily had decided to wait until after the war to start a family… 

“James!”

The one eyed man blinked, caught off guard. Remus was waiting for James to finish taking apart his part of the cage. 

“Did you fall asleep standing up?” The werewolf asked, raising an eyebrow at his usually alert friend.

James shook his head, “Just lost in thought.”

Beside Remus, Sirius laughed, “Careful James, or you might not be able to find your way back.”

Remus sighed as James rolled his one eye, “Come on you big oaf, we have work to finish.”

Sirius gave one last laugh as the three friends carried the pieces of the iron cage from the basement

* * *

 

Every little detail had to be perfect, Lily decided. That was why she only trusted herself to draw the array in the basement. There were just too many things that could go wrong if there were too many hands drawing, and that was just something that Lily couldn’t risk. There was too much at stake to risk by letting the entire Order try and help.

As Lily carefully drug her brush across the floor, she made sure to double and triple check with the array in the massive volume. There were so many fine details; it was no wonder Dumbledore had asked her to be in charge of the spell. It seemed like every time she made brushstroke, there were five other details that needed to be tended to. The task could have easily frustrated anyone, but Lily simply did the work that had been given to her, taking pride in everything she did.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Lily sat with the tome in the center of the array while the ink dried. It was odd, while the array was very intricate and covered much of the basement floor, and yet there was a large center piece that was completely blank. It was almost the like the eye of a storm.

Lily sighed, going back to studying the ancient text. It had taken her a while to translate the text, but now she understood the gist of the spell, even if she was wary of the spell’s nature. Lily almost wanted to ask Dumbledore how he had heard of such a spell, but…

There was no doubt about it, the spell was dark magic. Even in her years at Hogwarts, Lily had never come across a spell that demanded its performance to be done at midnight, let alone one that required an array as large as the one that Lily had slaved over. And now Lily couldn’t help but shudder as she looked at the sinister black ink that surrounded her. Of course, it could have very well have been the cold basement that had caused her to shake.

But Lily soon realized that with the ink still drying and no way to move without ruining all the work that she had done, she would be forced to stay in the center point of the spell, perhaps for the rest of the night. With a weary sigh, Lily turned the page of the old spell, reading the yellowing pages carefully for any details that she may have missed. Her tired eyes scanned each line of the text…

And saw something that eliminated any doubt in her mind that the spell was dark magic.

_‘No…Dumbledore couldn’t possibly allow this…could he?’_

* * *

 

Sirius Black was no stranger to evil magic. Afterall, he was the prodigal son of the infamous Deatheater family, being the only Black to turn his back on the Serpent King. But even though he had no alliances with his family, he had still grown up with them, which meant that he had grown up with black magic…no pun intended.

And as Sirius made his way into the basement with the rest of the Order, he could already tell that this spell was as dark as they came.

Lily must have realized it also, seeing that she was clutching the heavy tome so tightly that her knuckles were stark white.

“Well done Lily,” Dumbledore commented as he admired Lily’s handywork, “I can see that I was right to trust this task to you. The array is flawless.”

Lily, on the other hand, didn’t smile at Dumbledore’s praise, “Sir…”

Sirius could see Lily’s unease, even if Dumbledore could not. Or maybe he could see it…he was just ignoring the woman’s concerned look.

“This spell should go perfectly, everything is in order…”

“But that’s just it sir, not everything is in order.” Lily said quietly, trying to keep the conversation between herself and Dumbledore. But luckily for Sirius, there were perks to being an Animagus. One of which being that he had incredible hearing. 

Dumbledore perked an eyebrow, “Oh? What else do you need Lily? I’m sure we can find what is required for such an important spell.” 

Lily looked down, gripping the book tighter to keep from shaking as she whispered something.

“Come again Lily? I do believe I’ve gone deaf in this ear.”

Lily repeated what she said, still unable to make herself audible.

“Once more."

Poor Lily tried her best to keep her voice down, but still tell Dumbledore what was so important.

“Please speak up Lily, I just can’t-”

“It’s blood! The spell needs human blood!” All eyes turned to Lily as she covered her mouth, horrified that she had just announced that they would need a human sacrifice.

“Blood?” Remus looked dumbfounded. Not that Sirius blamed him; he was just as unnerved as the rest of the Order (with the exception of Moody, who simply grunted at the announcement).

Lily nodded slowly, pointed to the centerpiece of the spell, “This entire space needs to be filled with human blood. The blood…the blood acts as a catalyst…it’ll tie our world to the world we need to reach.”

Charlie Weasley looked at the ring in the center of the room, “It can’t be too hard to coat that area in blood, we wouldn’t even have to kill anyone.”

“That’s not all,” Lily warned, “If this spell goes wrong…the one whose blood was used…will…well, they’ll die…” 

At that, everyone, even Moody, sobered up. A heavy silence hung in the cold basement, each person looking at their neighbor, wondering who would be brave enough to…

“I’ll do it.”

All heads turned to look at James as he made his way to the center of the room, “This war has been going on long enough. I’ve been risking my life every day to stop this monster, tonight will be no different.”

Lily looked horrified, “James, no! If this spell goes wrong-”

James placed a finger on her lips, “It won’t go wrong Lily, you made it remember? And if there’s something you were always good at, it was perfection.” The one eyed man gave his wife a small smile before kissing her forehead, “I have nothing to worry about.”

Dumbledore nodded, “Very well James. Let’s begin.”

Sirius was shaking his head, “You always were off your rocker, Prongs.”

This only caused James to smile, “Shut up and hand me your knife, Padfoot.”

The two friends shared one last smile before Sirius handed James his trusty knife before standing beside Remus, who looked nervous.

James stood in the center of the room with Lily, who forced herself to look at the floor as James drug the blade across his arm. The entire Order watched in morbid fascination as James blood hit the stone floor while his wife knelt and began to spread it throughout the centerpiece.

It soon became obvious that they had underestimated how much blood would be needed to fill the focal point of the spell. James had actually needed to cut his arm again because the first wound had clotted. Lily was almost done painting the floor with James’ blood when Sirius noticed James beginning to sway. He made to catch his friend, but the oldest Weasley boys beat him to the punch, keeping James steady as the last few drops of blood had hit the floor.

“Take James upstairs boys, and see to his wounds.” Dumbledore commanded, even though the boys were already halfway out of the basement by the time the words had left his mouth.

Lily was trying to keep herself from crying as she stood, “It’s done.”

Dumbledore nodded, taking the large text from Lily. The red haired woman quickly made her way to Sirius and Remus, who tried their best to comfort her as Dumbledore began the ritual.

Sirius couldn’t understand the Latin that Dumbledore was chanting, only that it whatever it was, it was having a dramatic effect on everyone. The candles that everyone had to keep the basement lit were blown out, as if by some mighty wind. Everyone stood in the cold, dark basement, unsure of what would happen next.

Then the room burst into a tremendous light from the array, the black ink used to incarnate it was now shining brilliantly, giving Dumbledore the light he needed to continue chanting. Sirius couldn’t take his eyes off the glowing array that surrounded his best friend’s blood, only to gasp as the blood began to ripple and swirl. James’ blood began to twist and rise from the stone floor as Dumbledore’s chanting reached its climax. With one final shout, Dumbledore waved his hands over the blood and the glowing array.

A shockwave ripped through the basement, causing the entire Order of the Phoenix to be slammed against the walls. The glowing array now was a blinding light, too bright for Sirius to see as he covered his eyes, not sure when the spell would be over.

It seemed like an eternity before everyone managed to catch their breaths as the light dimmed. Sirius’s heart was pounding in his chest faster than a rabbit’s. Had it worked? Were they saved?

But as quickly as his heart was beating, the Animagus’ blood ran cold as he looked to the center of the array.

At James’ disembodied head.


	3. Chapter 3

Sirius couldn’t take his eyes from James’ head in the center of the room, torn between horror and dismay 

_James…_

“JAMES!” Sirius could hear Lily scream hysterically. It took both Sirius and Remus holding onto her to keep Lily from throwing herself at the disembodied head. Lily’s hysterical screams soon died into strangled sobs as the red haired woman sagged in Sirius’ arms.

“James…”

“What?!”

The entire Order turned at the sound of the new voice. James Potter stood at the top of the basement stairs, Bill and Charlie Weasley rushing to catch up with him.

“James, you really should be resting…”

“Oh hush Charlie. Maybe when you’re married, you’ll understand that it’s never a good thing when your wife is screaming your name and you’re not there.”

Sirius couldn’t help but smirk. Even after all these years, James was still completely obsessed with Lily. Sirius was so deep in thought that he failed to notice said redhead had freed herself from his arms and made a mad dash for James.

“James!”

The one eyed man nearly lost his balance as his wife threw herself into his arms. “Lily, what’s wrong? Is everyone alright? No one was hurt, were they?”

Lily was unable to say a word to her husband as she sobbed. Concerned, James turned his attention to the rest of the Order, his one eye looking from one face to the next: from Frank to Alice to Molly to Arthur to the rest of the Weasleys to Moody to Kingsley to Remus and Sirius to Dumbledore… 

To the head on the floor.

“…What is that?” James made his way down the stairs with Lily, his eye staring at the head.

Lily sniffled, “I thought…I thought the spell had gone wrong…I thought you were dead.”

“Well obviously, I’m not dead” James muttered, “Then what…”

For a while, no one said anything, they only stared at the center of the black array.

Finally, Dumbledore broke the silence, “It would seem that our savior, the one who has defeated the Serpent King, was you James.” The old man made his way to James’ head.

“But why-” Lily whispered, “Why is there only…only his head?”

Sirius couldn’t help but wonder the same thing, staring at his friend’s head on the floor. It certainly looked like James, only James could have jet black hair that unruly. The small glasses that had been knocked askew were almost identical to the ones that James had worn when he was a student at Hogwarts. But Sirius noticed that although there were similarities between the real James and the bodyless head, there were also vast differences. The head on the floor clearly had two eyes, and his hair was still an inky black, whereas James’ hair had begun to gray at the temple. And while James had several scars from his years of fighting, the head on the floor still had a youthful appearance; his face was smoother, free of wrinkles or scarring.

With the exception of a single, lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead…

“Where is the rest of his neck?” Alice asked quietly.

It was then that Sirius first took a good look at the end of the disembodied head, and was shocked. There was no blood, no sinew, no bone…no anything. The end of his neck wasn’t even there, like…

“It’s invisible.” Remus whispered, causing Sirius to start. Now that he thought about it, Sirius could remember the years of his youth when James had his Invisibility Cloak and Sirius could now remember the way that the cloak concealed.

Dumbledore heard Remus’s conclusion and, after taking another look at the head on the floor, knelt in the center of the array, in the center of James’s blood. The entire Order watched as the older man laid his hand on where the neck ended, and, after grabbing a fistful of what appeared to be nothing, began to pull away from the neck. Sirius had to stop himself from gasping as the rest of the neck was revealed, followed by a pair of strong shoulders and a slim torso and slender limbs. 

If Sirius hadn’t known better, he would have said that it was James from his Hogwarts years. But then again, what made him think that he _did_ know better?

“…It worked…” Even though Lily had barely spoken over a whisper, the entire Order heard her, and Sirius for one felt his heart jump for joy. The spell had worked; they had successfully summoned their savior. _James…_

Dumbledore stood slowly, clutching the Invisibility Cloak, “There is hope for us after all…”

Sirius nodded slightly. It was unnerving to see such a young looking James, and one that seemed to be doing well off by the looks of things. How long had it been since James had worn robes that fine? Sure, they weren’t dress robes, but the James on the floor obviously wasn’t forced to wear threadbare robes and worn in shoes. There was something soothing about the fact that his friend wasn’t in poverty.

“What now?” Tonks whispered.

The awe that had descended on the room suddenly ran cold. What _were_ they going to do now? Yes, they had summoned one who had defeated the Serpent King, but would he help them? Would he even want to fight again? Would he even be able to help them, or was his war too different for him to even be of any use?

The Order stood in silence. What now?

* * *

 

 _‘Whoa…what happened last night?’_ Harry felt as if his head had been pummeled with a rogue bludger. It was odd; he knew he hadn’t been able to drink enough to cause such a wretched hangover. Then…

“For now, Nymphadora, we will have to wait until he wakes. Afterall, he is the one who will know what to do.”

 _‘Nymphadora? Tonks?’_ Harry felt his heart drop into his stomach. He knew that voice…but he also knew that he shouldn’t be hearing it. And he _definitely_ shouldn’t be talking to _Tonks._

Dead people don’t…well they shouldn’t normally talk. 

Not to each other…

“But he’s so young…”

Harry’s heart fully stopped when he heard Sirius speak. It had been so long since he had heard his godfather’s voice…alive at least. 

 _‘Sirius…Dumbledore….Tonks?’_ Harry decided to take a gamble and open his eyes. He appeared to be in a poorly lit basement, on the floor to be exact…and he seemed to be laying in something wet… _odd_.

The only source of light came from a single _lumos_ held by…Dumbledore? No, it couldn’t possibly be. It was one thing to hear his voice, but to see him…and Sirius…and Remus and Tonks…and Moody…and the Longbottoms, lucid at last…and…

It couldn’t possibly be Lily and James Potter standing next to Sirius…which only meant one thing.

Harry had finally lost it.

* * *

 

“You let them escape?”

“Your majesty please understand-”

“I understand completely: you let those blasted outlaws into my home and they hurt my precious heir.” The red eyes of the Serpent King narrowed as he glared at one of his underlings, one hand gently caressing the head of the Taipan, his own heir, who was seated at his feet.

“But sir-”

“Do not contradict me.” The King hissed, raising his wand.

“N-no, sir, please!”

_“Avada Kedavra!”_

Pitiful. Absolutely pitiful. The Serpent King scoffed at the man’s dead body as Nagini began to feast. How stupid could he have been to allow those rebels into the castle? But at least nothing…important was hurt. The Dark Lord looked down at his young heir. Yes…nothing important was hurt. Then why…?

A surge of power rippled through the castle, causing several expensive trinkets to break and torches to go out. Apparently whatever the rebels had come for, they had found it…but Tom Riddle couldn’t help but smirk in satisfaction as he felt the familiar sensation of dark magic whisp around him. So the Order was resorting to dark magic? How desperate.

“What was that?” Draco inquired, his brow furrowed. Tom smoothed the young man’s wrinkled forehead, chuckling.

“This game has just become…interesting.”

* * *

Remus was still having trouble believing that this younger James could save their world…hell Remus even doubted that he would even want to. Why would anyone want to fight another war when they had just won their own? Maybe Remus was thinking too rationally for his own good but…what if all of this was for nothing? Was it even fair to tear this boy away from his friends? His own Lily back in his own world? What about his own family…suddenly Remus didn’t feel like this spell was worth such the trouble.

“But he’s so young…” He heard Sirius say, and Remus couldn’t help but agree. The boy didn’t even look like he was out of Hogwarts…if was even there in his world. The werewolf stole a glance at his animagus friend, who was staring at Dumbledore cautiously. Remus missed the days when Sirius’ biggest concern was how to torment Snivellus or how to sneak in firewhiskey into the Gryffindor common room…now everyone’s biggest concern was just making it to wake up each morning…

Sirius cast a glance at Remus, “Do you think this will work?”

Remus knew better than to lie to his friend, “No…” Lily shot Remus a knowing look. Remus wasn’t trying to be a pessimist…he was just too logical for his own good.

“ _Look…”_ Percy Weasley whispered, pointing to the younger James on the floor. The entire Order looked and saw that the new James had opened his eyes and was staring blankly at the ceiling.

Dumbledore quickly made his way to their savior, everyone else watching intently.

“My boy, are you alright?” The old wizard asked. Remus watched as James’ younger twin lifted his hand to his face, staring at the blood covered mess.

“No professor…I think I’ve finally died.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

_[In the world that once had Harry Potter]_

 

“Harry? Harry?!” Andromeda Tonks sighed as she knocked on the front door to 12 Grimmauld Place, her arms aching from the heavy bag on her arm.

“Nyaha!”

Oh, and the infant that was squirming in her other arm didn’t help at all either.

“Teddy, please stop your fussing. You’ll see Uncle Harry soon…” With another sigh, Andromeda knocked frantically on the front door.

‘ _It’s times like this that I wish Harry would just keep his Floo connection open…Stupid boy is probably dead asleep by now…’_ Andromeda tried to keep her frustrations at bay as she pulled out her wand, “ _Alohomora!”_

Nothing. No spark or flash, no click of the lock coming undone. Nothing.

Andromeda groaned, “Harry, this is no time for you to be paranoid. You’re going to make me late.” In her frustration, the older witch grabbed the doorknob and gave it a fierce jiggle.

Only to find that the door was already unlocked.

 _‘That’s odd, even for Harry…’_  Balancing Teddy on her hip, Andromeda made her way into the house. “Harry?” No response, “Harry James Potter, where are you?”

Again there was no response, making Andromeda suspect something was amiss. Then again, whenever Harry was involved, something was bound to be amiss. Andromeda set Teddy’s bag on the floor before exploring every inch of the house with the babbling infant. The kitchen was empty, the living room was empty, the den was empty, the rumpus room was empty, the office was empty, the first guest bedroom was empty, the second guest bedroom was empty, every guest bedroom was empty…

 _‘Please just be asleep Harry…’_  With the turquoise haired infant in her arms, Andromeda Tonks opened the door to Harry’s bedroom.

Which was empty.

“Harry, I don’t have time for this…” The elder with made her way back downstairs, readjusting her hold on Teddy as she grabbed his bag once more.

“Nya?”

“You’ll see Uncle Harry soon, Teddy. I’m sure he’s just with Ron and Hermione.” Andromeda rolled her eyes slightly as she grabbed a handful of Floo powder, “Let’s go check on them, shall we?”

The small boy clapped his tiny hands together, cooing happily.

“I’ll take that as a yes then.”  Both the elderly witch and the infant stood in the fireplace as Andromeda called out the name of Ron Weasley’s flat before vanishing in a green fiery blaze.

* * *

 

Ron Weasley had done a lot of crazy things in his life. From being pummeled by a life sized queen in a chess match, entering the Chamber of Secrets, fighting in the biggest magical battle in history. He had done a lot of crazy and painful things. And he’d do them all again if it meant no more Auror training. Ron’s muscles screamed in agony at even the most mundane tasks…like opening the door to his flat. The shutting of said door had Ron’s ears ringing and his head aching.

“Owwwwww….” Said redhead tried to make his way to his bedroom quietly. It had been a long night of raids and field training all Ron wanted to do was sleep. But the aches and pains in his body only allowed him to make it to the couch. “Robards is trying to kill me I swear…”

“Ron?”

Ron groaned. He had tried his best not to wake his girlfriend, but the only time Hermione hadn’t worried about him had been when she was petrified at the age of 12. And sure enough, the soft rustle of fabric against fabric could be heard as Hermione Jean Granger made her way to the couch. The brushy haired witch leaned on the back of the couch as she looked down at Ron, who was sprawled in the most unfashionable manner possible.

“…Bad night?”

Ron groaned, trying to shift to face his girlfriend better, “Bad week Hermione, bad week…”

Hermione smiled softly at her boyfriend, “Would some bacon and eggs help the pain?”

Ron couldn’t help but chuckle. Leave it to Hermione to offer him food to make him feel better….he knew there was a reason he loved her. “Yeah, bacon sounds delicious right now.”

A chuckle escaped Hermione, “Always predictable Ron.” The bushy haired witch smiled as she leaned over the couch kiss her boyfriend’s forehead.

Only to have the fireplace roar to life with a blazing emerald flame, causing Hermione to lose her balance and topple over Ron as Andromeda Tonks stepped out of the fireplace.

The elderly woman looked at the young couple in surprise, while Ron and Hermione simply stared back at their impromptu visitor. Finally, Andromeda cleared her throat, “Oh, excuse me. I didn’t think I would be interrupting anything, I feel terribly rude now…”

Hermione was quick to fling herself off the couch (and Ron of course), “Oh no Mrs. Tonks, you aren’t interrupting anything!”

“Except my breakfast…”

“Hush Ron.” Hermione sent Ron a halfhearted glare before turning back to Andromeda, “Did you need anything Mrs. Tonks? Did Harry accidently leave one of Teddy’s toys over here?”

Andromeda blinked, “Oh no, I had thought that Harry was here. I need him to watch Teddy while I visit my dear friend Margot. Poor thing caught Dragon Pox, and I need to take care of her. And of course little Teddy is in no shape to be near Dragon Pox…”

“Harry wasn’t at his place?” Ron interrupted as he hoisted himself up off the couch, making his way to the two women (and Teddy of course).

The elderly witch shook her head, “Merlin no. I knocked for quite some time and it turned out his door wasn’t even locked. So I went inside, and he was nowhere to be found, no note or anything, terribly rude…”

Ron and Hermione shared a look. Harry had never been one to keep them out of his plans…nor had he been one to leave his front door unlocked. Whatever had happened to Harry was important.

Not that they would tell Andromeda that.

“Mrs. Tonks, you must be in a hurry.” Hermione said with a small smile, “Why don’t Ron and I take Teddy until Harry comes back? That way you won’t keep Margot waiting?”

Andromeda Tonks thought this over, then smiled back at Hermione, “Why thank you dear. I’m sure you and Ronald will need the practice.”

Hermione couldn’t help but cringe slightly at the suggestion, but thankfully, Ron said nothing about Andromeda’s comment as the older woman handed him Teddy and set the youngster’s bag on the ground.

“Have a nice trip, Mrs. Tonks!” Hermione waved as the elderly woman went back to the fireplace.

“I will sweetie! Say ‘hello’ to Harry for me!” And with that, Andromeda Tonks disappeared in a flash of green flames.

Ron looked at Teddy, then back at Hermione, “Practice then? For what may I ask?”

“Oh shut it Ron!” Hermione flushed, “This is no time to poke fun at us having a baby!”

Ron just stared at Hermione, who’s flushing got worse. Teddy seemed to enjoy the game that the grownups were playing, considering the fact he decided to give himself freckles as he looked at Hermione with Ron.

“I’m not poking fun, Hermione.” Ron chuckled at Teddy’s new freckles, “What do you think happened to Harry then?”

Hermione sighed, “If I knew, we wouldn’t be playing babysitters would we?”

Ron watched as his girlfriend tapped her index finger against her lip: a sure sign she was contemplating something.

“We better go look for him then,” Ron suggested, picking up Teddy’s bag.

“I suppose you’re right.” Hermione nodded, “But we can’t let it get out that Harry is missing.”

“Right.”

* * *

 

**_ Wizarding Savior Missing? _ **

**_Yes, it appears that Harry has done it again, even if the public doesn’t know what ‘it’ is yet. Recently, it has come to public attention that none other than Harry Potter has gone missing, even if that’s all the public has been allowed to know. He was last seen at The Leaky Cauldron having a drink at the bar, but when friends arrived at his home, he was nowhere to be found._ **

****

**_Whether he was the Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One, or the Savior of the Wizarding World, there isn’t a witch or wizard that doesn’t know the name Harry James Potter. The boy, now a man, made his way into our hearts and our headlines at an early age and hasn’t stopped since._ **

**_Even in his Hogwarts years, Potter has managed to do the unthinkable and the impossible not once, but several times, finally astounding the world as he defeated the dark lord Voldemort at the young age of 17._ **

**_But if we had thought Potter was going to stop surprising us there, we were dead wrong. As the trials of Voldemort’s Deatheaters began, Harry Potter stunned the world again when he showed up at one particular hearing, not to aid the prosecution, but the defense._ ** ****

**_There were many accusations of coercion and_ ** **Imperious _on the day that the Savior of the Wizarding world stood at the defense of Narcissa and Draco Mal-_**

 

He couldn’t read anymore, he just couldn’t. The front page article of _The Daily Prophet_ was soon crumpled in pale hands before being thrown into the blazing fire. But watching the paper shrivel and turn to ash brought no relief to the pale man who sat in front of the fire.

How long had it been since he had seen Harry? Only a few days…at the Leaky Cauldron. It could very well be possible that he had been the last to see Harry before he had vanished. Hell, it could be possible because he knew it was true, and that fact alone gave him shivers.

The one person who had stood up for him when no one else had.

“Harry…”

 

* * *

 

 

_[back in the Darkworld]_

 

“No professor…I think I’ve finally died.”

 _What?_ James blinked his one eye. How horrible was the other world that his other self had been expecting to die? James stole a glance at Lily, who was clinging to his arm while staring at the James on the floor.

Dumbledore furrowed his brow, “Why would you think that you had died, my boy?”

The young James Potter slowly sat up, pressing a bloody hand to his forehead, “…I guess when you wake up in a room full of dead people and you’re covered in blood, it’s not hard to assume that I’m dead.”

 _‘Dead?’_ James shared a glance with Remus, who he could tell was thinking the same thing. Were they all dead in this other world? That didn’t sound very hopeful…if that was the price of a world without the Serpent King, was it worth it?

Of course it was.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, “I know you must be confused—”

“You have no idea, I don’t even know how I died. Maybe alcohol poisoning, but I didn’t even drink more than a few butterbeers…maybe a heart attack? But Merlin, what an anticlimactic way to go after the life I lived…”

“You aren’t dead my boy.”

The young James shook his head, “Then this is the most bizarre dream I have ever had…and that is saying something.”

James could hear Sirius stifle a snort beside him. Lily, shot the Animagus a glare before looking back at the young James.

Dumbledore helped the young James to his feet, “Let’s find someplace to talk, shall we?”

Kingsley and Moody made their way to help Dumbledore escort their savior up to Dumbledore’s office. As James’ younger self passed him, James could have sworn he heard something that sounded suspiciously like “at least I’m not naked this time…”

The entire Order followed their savior into the office where they had been only a few hours ago. James didn’t let go of Lily even as Dumbledore took a seat at his desk, with the younger James sitting with his back to the Order across from Dumbledore.

“My boy, I can assure you that this is no dream or hallucination.” Dumbledore began, “But I will tell you that you are no longer in your own world.”

Although James couldn’t see the savior’s face, he knew that his younger self must have shown confusion, for Dumbledore began to elaborate more. Once again, the Order listened to Dumbledore’s theory of multiple realities and how each reality was different and how the differences could be vast or incredibly minute. At one point, the savior’s eyes had seemingly glazed over, simply taking in the words the elder wizard was saying.

“…a single choice can result in a difference between realities.” Dumbledore concluded.

There was a heavy silence in the room after Dumbledore finished speaking. No one in the Order dared say a word while their savior pondered the reality of things. It took several minutes, during which time, the newcomer didn’t say a word, he didn’t even look at the tome lain out on Dumbledore’s desk.

Finally, he took a deep breath, and sighed.

“So…” The younger James began, “What you’re saying is that something happened in this world that caused Voldemort to take over?” James couldn’t help but notice how calm the savior was acting in the face of such a drastic change. Maybe he was just in shock.

Dumbledore nodded, “He prefers to go by the Serpent King now.”

“He would…” The young man let out a dry chuckle. “Very dramatic.”

‘ _I never laughed like that…’_ James noted. ‘ _Then again, there must have been_ some _differences in our worlds.’_

The young James stood up, looking at the Order, “Well, I can say there are quite a few differences I see here…quite a few…”There was a slightly sorrowful look in the man’s green eyes.

 _‘Wait, I don’t have green eyes… green eye…’_ James watched his supposed twin as he looked at Moody with a sad look, before moving onto Dora, then Remus, then the Frank and Alice, even one of the Weasley boys, before staring long and hard at Sirius. James could have sworn he saw a smile attempt to crawl across the savior’s face. But then, he stared at Lily…and himself. There was something weird about the way his younger twin was looking at himself and his wife _…_

“I don’t suppose,” Dumbledore interrupted, “That in your world, some of us have already passed on due to the war?”

With a nod, the young James sighed, “You would be correct. I lost a lot of friends in the war…a lot of family too…”

James couldn’t help but feel sorry for the boy. After all, he had just fought his own world, now here he was, forced to fight another one that had nothing to do with him. Then the savior asked something that no one expected him to.

“Where’s Neville?”

The entire room stopped breathing at the question. Alice’s eyes began to well up as she buried her face in Frank’s shoulder. Frank took a deep breath before looking at the young man in the middle of the room, “Our son was killed many years ago, probably before you were born…”

The strange wizard closed his eyes, taking another slow breath before looking back at the couple, “He was just a year old, wasn’t he? And he was killed by Voldemort—or the Serpent King—personally.”

The statement was blunt and accurate. Frank tried his best not to sound taken aback, “Yes…he was…”

The young James nodded before looking at James and Lily. James held Lily closer, almost wary of anything the savior had to say. But what he wasn’t expecting was, “And is your son dead as well?”

Lily’s shock was evident on her face, and James didn’t blame her. Had they had a child in the other world? But his twin was so young, too young to be a father…

“No.” Lily answered at last, “We don’t have a son. My husband and I decided that this war was too dangerous to start a family.”

A look of realization crossed the younger James’ face, “Professor,” he said, addressing Dumbledore, “I do believe I’ve discovered why our worlds are so different…”

Dumbledore arched an eyebrow, “Oh?” he mused, looking up at the young man, “And why is that James?”

The savior looked at Dumbledore, blinking owlishly, “James? You think I’m James?”

The real James looked at his wife, who was equally confused. _‘Well,’_ James thought, _‘at least now I know why his eyes were different…’_

The James lookalike cleared his throat awkwardly, “I’m sorry…of course you would have thought I was James…” Did he sound… _sheepish_? “I guess since I don’t exist in this world…”

Dumbledore was amused to say the least, “You don’t? And why is that?”

“It’s like you said: a single choice can change realities…like the choice to not have a family during the war.” As he said those last words, the savior never took his eyes off Lily, which made James wary to say the least.

James stepped in front of his wife, “And why do you say that?” Regardless of what spell brought him here, this savior had yet to earn James’ trust, especially if he kept looking at his wife like that.

The younger man smiled softly, “I’m sorry…I guess I need to introduce myself, considering how I know all of you already.” The savior rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “My name is Harry Potter…my parents were James and Lily Potter.”

It was then that James was able to get a good look at the savior’s, Harry’s, green eyes.

Lily’s eyes.

_‘Dear Merlin…he’s my son?’_


	5. Chapter 5

_‘This,’_ Harry mused, _‘was not what I had in mind when I said I wanted adventure…’_

Harry had never thought that he would one day be standing in front of his father, nor had he thought that his father would have an eye patch for whatever reason. Actually he never thought he’d ever be summoned to a parallel universe by several people he knew to defeat Voldmort, who had taken over the world as they knew it…again. And if he really wanted to get technical, he never thought he would have been a wizard and fly on a broomstick and have a magic wand…but that was before he turned 11.

And now here he was, summoned to a parallel universe by several people he knew to defeat Voldemort again and standing in front of his father, who was wearing an eye patch.

 _‘Damnit, you would think that I would be more in shock by all this._ ’ Harry mused as the Order began to share looks with one another. _‘Maybe I should have found a better way of introducing myself…’_

The look on James Potter’s face looked like a mix of shock and-

 _‘Constant vigilance,’_ Harry decided, noticing the way the way his father was standing protectively in front of his mother, _‘I guess I’d be on edge too if I was in the middle of a war…’_ And he was, at least until he defeated Voldemort.

Suddenly Harry’s stomach grumbled rather loudly, much to his embarrassment.

Dumbledore stood, “It would see that I have forgotten that even savior’s require food. Perhaps it would be best if we ended the festivities for tonight so Harry here can eat before getting some shut eye.”

 _‘I wish he wouldn’t refer to me as a savior_ ’ Harry thought blandly, ‘ _Even if it is fitting for the situation…And only Dumbledore would call this ‘festivities’...typical’_

The Order slowly began to filter from the room, and Dumbledore led Harry down to a modest kitchen.

Molly Weasley, Harry noted, had a knack for cooking for every possible person she meets, war or no war. It was after Mrs. Weasley had prepared left over stew, toast, his own pot of tea and began cutting up fresh fruit (or maybe not so fresh, how was Harry to know?) that Harry insisted that she didn’t need to fix him a three course meal.

“Nonsense, you’re a growing boy. I’m sure you could stand to put on some weight.” Mrs. Weasley replied, piling on some beans with his toast. Harry couldn’t help but notice that Mrs. Weasley was obviously not as taken with the whole ‘savior’ thing as some were. Or perhaps it was her nervous habit to mother anyone in sight.

And James (Harry wasn’t sure if he wanted to be called ‘Dad’ yet or not) was still grasping the fact that not only did he have a son, that said son would be the hero they needed. The poor man was just standing in the doorway watching him.

The chair next to Harry squeaked, making Harry turn his eyes from his father to Sirius, who apparently decided he wanted to get to know his godson (although he wasn’t his godfather here, now was he?).

Sirius gave Harry a good once over, making Harry feel a bit more than just self conscious. After a few moments of staring, Sirius decided, “You do look a lot like James.”

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but he did notice how Remus did not. “But my eyes: I have my mother’s eyes.” Harry decided to add, having heard the comment several times before. “I get that a lot.”

“I don’t doubt that.” Remus smiled softly as he leaned against the kitchen counter, “How are you feeling…Harry is it?” The werewolf rubbed the back of his neck shyly, “Sorry about that, it might take me a while to get used to being an uncle, loosely speaking of course.”

Harry smiled. It was nice that the war hadn’t completely changed Sirius or Remus’s personalities. It was almost like having them back… “To be honest Remus, I’m doing quite fine. Well, besides being a bit hungry and a little tired, but I’m only human.”

“You aren’t scared or confused or freaked out by everything that’s happened tonight?”

Harry swung his head back to the door. Apparently James had decided to speak up finally.

The question made Harry stop eating his toast. It would appear odd that someone who had just travelled from a parallel world to fight a battle already fought and kill someone already dead in his own world to be so…calm. Of course, if this event had happened perhaps…6 years ago, then maybe Harry would be in a panic.

But he wasn’t.

“To be honest James, I figured you wouldn’t want to be called Dad, this _isn’t_ the most bizarre thing that’s happened to me, nor the most terrifying.” Harry replied as casually as he could before returning to his toast. The Order member’s that were present in the room shared glances with one another.

Sirius just grinned, “Any chance of you telling us what _was_ the most bizarre thing that’s happened in your life, Harry?”

Harry could feel all eyes on him, and the sudden urge to smooth his hair over his scar was becoming strong. Instead, Harry settled on rubbing the back of his neck as he thought of what could be considered the most bizarre event in his life. Well fighting a three headed dog was bizarre, but then again so was finding out he was a Parslemouth and helping a Azkaban escapee hide and witnessing Voldemort’s rebirth and finding out prophecies about oneself and watching your best friends snog in the middle of a battle, but-

“Being in a transitional realm between life and death that appeared to look like King’s Cross Train Station with Dumbledore, completely naked, has got to be the most bizarre thing in my life to date.” Harry muttered, looking down at his tea.

The whole room was dead silent, even Molly Weasley had stopped cleaning her pots and pans. James’ one eye looked like it was about to pop out of his head; his jaw even went a bit slack. Sirius on the other hand, was grinning.

“You really do have to tell us about your life.” Remus commented, getting a few nods from the other Order members.

“But not tonight, we’ve been up far too late as it stands.” Mrs. Weasley declared, flicking her wand to clean the dirty dishes.

Sirius frowned, but didn’t say anything as he left the kitchen (although he did grab Harry’s last slice of toast with a wink to Harry). Remus rolled his eyes again at his friend before following with James in tow. Lily, or Mom, Harry noted, hadn’t been in the kitchen. But why?

“Come along Harry, I’ll show you where you can sleep.” Mrs. Weasley said with a smile, leading Harry upstairs, “I’m sorry to say you will have to share with a few of my boys, but I’m sure that they won’t pester you too much.”

It was Harry’s turn to smile, “Don’t worry Mrs. Weasley, I’m used to sharing rooms with your boys.” When Mrs. Weasley looked at him inquiringly, he added, “Ron and I shared a dormitory and I spent quite a few summers at the Burrow.”

Mrs. Weasley’s inquiring gaze melted to a fond one, “We still have the Burrow then?”

Harry nodded, “Bill was even married there.” _Even if the reception was a bit of a bust…_

But luckily, Mrs. Weasley seemed content knowing at least one of her sons got married, as she was almost humming softly as they walked down the hallway. Harry was surprised that even in the midst of a horrible war, people could still be joyful at small things.

A sharp tug at Harry’s arm jolted him from his thoughts. Startled, he turned abruptly to face Alice Longbottom, who look quite startled herself.

“I-I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to startle you…” Mrs. Longbottom said quietly, turning slightly red. Harry noted that Neville must have gotten a bit of his nerves from his mother.

Mrs. Weasley smiled softly at Mrs. Longbottom, “Alice dear, I thought you already went to bed. Couldn’t sleep?”

Mrs. Longbottom shook her head, “No…I had too much on my mind…”

“Haven’t we all dearie? It has been quite an eventful night.” Mrs. Weasley nodded slightly, “Not that it’s your fault Harry, it’s just be a chaotic night in general.”

Harry nodded, not sure why he would have blamed himself for the events of the night, after all, they were the ones who summoned _him_. But he decided not to comment, and instead just smiled to Mrs. Longbottom.

Mrs. Longbottom looked at Mrs. Weasley, then back at Harry. Mrs. Weasley obviously took the hint, smiling softly, “I’ll just go and get your bed ready, alright Harry? I’m sure you and Mrs. Longbottom can have a nice conversation while I’m gone.” The Weasley matriarch hummed softly as she continued her way down the hallway, leaving Harry and Mrs. Longbottom alone.

Harry looked down at Mrs. Longbottom, trying to be friendly, “It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Longbottom.”

Mrs. Longbottom nodded, “And you, Mr. Potter.”

“Please, just Harry. Mr. Potter makes me sound old.” Harry chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

The two stood in silence for a while, just looking at each other. Harry was feeling more awkward by the moment. What did Mrs. Longbottom—

“You knew Neville?” Mrs. Longbottom asked abruptly, and then looked down at her feet.

Harry understood now. While Neville may have been alive and well in his own world, here Neville Longbottom was killed when he was a year old, leaving a mother to grieve the loss of her son. _‘All because of some prophecy’_ Harry thought darkly, wondering if Mrs. Longbottom knew why her baby boy was killed.

But Harry kept these thoughts to himself, “I _know_ Neville, yes.” Harry answered, smiling slightly.

Mrs. Longbottom looked up, “What’s he like?”

Harry thought of all the times when Neville had been picked on (including the time that Hermione had put him in the full body bind when they were 11) and even ridiculed for being a weak wizard. But of course he wasn’t about to tell Mrs. Longbottom that her son had been bullied in school, no parent would want to hear that.

Instead Harry thought of when Neville began to grow into the man he was today. The wizard who would fight with him in the Department of Mysteries, the wizard who lead the resistance at a corrupted Hogwarts while Harry was off hunting down Horcruxes and the wizard who destroyed one of Voldemort’s own Horcruxes with the sword of Gryffindor…

“He is a true Gryffindor to be sure.” Harry smiled, “We shared a dormitory at Hogwarts. He wasn’t the most book knowledgeable wizards,” _‘To be honest, he was a bit useless until our fourth year…’_ , “But he has a real passion for Herbology…he is one of the bravest wizards I know” _‘How many 17 year olds defy Voldemort at the risk of his own life?’_ “and also one of the kindest.”

Mrs. Longbottom smiled, showing small dimples on her cheeks, _‘Well I guess I know where Neville got his smile…’_ Harry mused.

“Thank you…” Mrs. Longbottom said quietly, “Neville sounds like a son I would be proud of, that he was raised right.”

Harry’s heart dropped to his stomach. Could he possibly tell Mrs. Longbottom that she had absolutely no part in raising her only son? That she was confined to the mental ward of St. Mungos? That she couldn’t even recognize her own son?

But before Harry could say anything more, Mrs. Weasley returned, “Here we go Harry, I’ve got your bed all tidied up. I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything Alice.”

Mrs. Longbottom smiled, “Oh no Molly, we were just finished talking.” She looked at Harry, “Thank you again Harry.”

Harry smiled back as Mrs. Longbottom walked downstairs, probably to where her and her husband slept, while Mrs. Weasley led Harry down the hallway to a small bedroom.

“I’m sorry you have to share with my youngest boys,” Mrs. Weasley whispered as not to wake anyone, “But they won’t give you any trouble.”

Harry whispered back, “Don’t worry Mrs. Weasley, and thank you for the food and the bed.”

Mrs. Weasley smiled and left Harry to sleep.

Harry looked around the room, which was lit by a few candles on an end table. There was a small mattress set up on the floor, which he assumed was for him. He had also assumed that he would be sharing a room with Ron, but as Harry counted three other bodies in the room, he concluded that the twins and Percy also shared this room.

 _‘Well at least it’s cozy…’_ Harry thought as he lay down on the mattress. He was still in his cloths, but it didn’t bother Harry too much. He could always ask for more cloths in the morning. For now, Harry was just content to enjoy the silence in the room.

_Wait…_

Harry sighed, “Ron I know you’re awake.”

A small flinch in the bed next to his mattress proved Harry’s guess correct.

Ron Weasley rolled over to face Harry, “How-?”

Harry smiled slightly, “You snore like a mountain troll when you’re _really_ asleep Ron.”

“I never heard that description before.” Harry looked over at Fred (or was it George?), who had sat up in his bed with a grin.

George (Fred?) propped himself up on his elbow, “But now that I think about it-”

“-It is the best description-”

“-can’t believe we didn’t think of it ourselves.”

Ron huffed, “Oh stuff it you two.”

Harry smiled. It was good to hear some Weasley bickering, it was somehow comforting.

“So Harry” Fred asked from his bed, “How _do_ you know that Ronnikins snores?”

“Yeah,” George added, ignoring Ron’s huffing, “it must be the insane mind powers he has.”

“Mind powers?” Harry found himself asking despite himself.

Ron rolled his eyes, “Don’t mind them. My brothers are-”

“Jokers?” Harry supplied, trying to keep from laughing at Ron’s expression.

“What did we tell you Ronnikins?” Fred grinned, “He’s reading your mind as we speak.”

Harry laughed quietly, “I’m not much of a _Legilimens,_ sorry to disappoint Fred. Or George…no I think you’re Fred.”

The twins laughed, “You were right, I am Fred.” Fred chuckled, leaning against his pillow, “Are you sure you aren’t a _Legilimens?_ ”

Harry shook his head, “I’m sure. Just because I don’t exist in your world doesn’t mean you don’t exist in mine.”

“Well…that makes sense…” Ron muttered, turning red at the ears.

Harry smiled, “Ron and me shared a dormitory at Hogwarts, that’s how I knew he snored.”

The mention of Hogwarts piqued all the boys’ attention, “Hogwarts is still a school then?” Ron asked.

Harry blinked, but decided against asking anything. He’d learn soon enough, “Yeah, Ron and I were in Gryffindor.”

 

“Oi, what about Fred and I?” George asked, eager to hear more.

Harry smiled softly, “You were in Gryffindor too. In fact, you two develop a joke shop that almost runs Zonko’s out of business. Your mother didn’t approve at first-”

“Obviously.” Fred added with a snicker.

“-but you two did what made you happy. And it made a lot of other people happy, despite a war going on.” Harry finished, watching the Weasley twins smile. He decided to leave out the part where George only had one ear and Fred was dead. That could happen tomorrow.

“Are you sure you had a war in your world?” Ron asked, looking at Harry.

Harry looked back at Ron, “Trust me, there was a war Ron.” Harry yawned, closing his eyes, “You were a big part of it too…helped me go around destroying Horcruxes…”

As Harry fell asleep, he couldn’t help but hear Ron ask something that disturbed him greatly.

“What’s a Horcrux?”

* * *

 

The Adder’s Lair was, in short, the Serpent King’s proudest achievement of his reign. Enslaving the wizarding world had been entirely too easy after the brat from the prophecy was taken care of. But to have all the magical knowledge in the world at his fingertips, and away from unworthy scum, was brilliant.

As Tom Riddle ran his long finger along the row of books, he couldn’t help but smirk at what the rebels were planning to use against him. Would they try and create a dark beast? Perhaps they used dark magic to develop a new spell….

But none of it mattered. No matter what those pathetic rebels did, they had no chance of defeating him, not when he was immortal.

The long spidery finger of Tom Riddle hit a gap in the books, causing the Serpent King to look up at the shelf with his narrowed red eyes. The gap was large to be sure, in fact it was obvious a book had been taken from the shelf. Perhaps it was the book the rebels had stolen, but…

There were two books missing.

 _His_ book was missing.

 _‘Those pathetic rebels wouldn’t dare…’_ But as Tom Riddle searched the rest of the Lair, he could not find the small book that had been next to the tome.

The Serpent King stormed from the Lair, waiting for anyone to cross his path, just to give him an excuse to curse someone. Perhaps he wouldn’t even need an excuse, he could just curse anyone.

Before, Tom had been amused with the rebel antics, thinking the game would be interesting.

Now he was annoyed.

 _‘The rebels will pay for this_ …’


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol, I remember how awkward this chapter was when I first wrote it, so I went ahead and rewrote bits of it.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Harry…Harry you need to wake up…”

Harry groaned, covering his eyes with his forearm. It was far too early for Ron to be coming into his house and waking him up, the sun hadn’t even risen yet. Why couldn’t he just—

“Mum’s made breakfast, and everyone is waiting for you. You better hurry before Fred and George eat everything.”

Wait…breakfast only happened after the sun rose…and Harry’s room faced east…how could he have missed the sunrise?

_Wait…Fred?_

 That’s when Harry remembered. The creepy basement, the room full of dead people, finding out that he was in an alternate reality. His parents….

It was all real.

“Damn...”

“What?” Ron raised an eyebrow, leaning over Harry. Then Harry remembered that this wasn’t his Ron, it was the Ron from the other world…the dark world. A world in which he had never been born, and a world in which Voldemort had won.

He’d been summoned into a world in which Voldemort had already won…to defeat him. Again. All the struggles, all of the Horcruxes, all of the life or death situations. All to kill Voldemort. All over again.

Of  course, there was a tiny voice in the back of Harry’s mind that reminded him that he _had_ asked for another adventure. And the voice, which sounded suspiciously like Hermione, also spoke of his oversized Hero Complex, and how he couldn’t simply leave (even if he knew how) the people in this world to suffer their fate.

Plus…Harry knew the game this time around. He knew about the Prophecy, about the Horcruxes, about the Hallows even. No one was keeping secrets this time around, there were no lies to be had or half-truths to cloud Harry’s vision. And Harry didn’t exist in this world…

So Harry knew everything about Voldemort, and Voldemort knew nothing of Harry.

Well, that would make for a very interesting adventure…A very different game to be played, a war to be won.

Harry was pulled from his thoughts when the other Ron began to shake his shoulder.  Stretching, he shrugged off Ron’s hand, “I’m alright Ron…I just remembered that I have to vanquish Voldemort again.”

“You mean The Serpent King?” Ron raised an eyebrow as Harry stood up.

Harry rubbed the sleep from his eyes, “Whatever he is called here. I still know him as Tom Riddle…” He fumbled for his glasses on the small mattress. Ron picked up the glasses and placed them in Harry’s hand for him, “Thanks…”

Ron smiled, “No problem. We should head downstairs before all the foods gone.”

Harry nodded as they made their way downstairs, smiling as they passed some familiar faces and wondering at the not so familiar faces and who had survived this war so far.

* * *

 

 

James Potter was more than at a loss of what to think about the events of the past 24 hours. Afterall, Dora hadn’t broken into Castle Slytherin more than 12 hours ago. Then Lily had managed to form the array needed, perfectly James might add, in a matter of a few hours. But…then when Dumbledore had spoken the chant…

He became a father.

Of a teenager. Who just happened to be their only hope of defeating the Serpent King.

What was he supposed to do? Did Harry want to call him ‘Dad’? Was he a good dad to Harry in his world? Did Harry hate him? What if-

“Prongs!”

James jolted from his train of thought to look across the table at Sirius, “What?”

Sirius rolled his eyes, “I’ve asked you three times already to pass the jam. What could you possibly be thinking of so hard that you’re ignoring me of all people?”

“I’ve got a pretty good idea of what he’s thinking of.” Lily muttered, tying her hair back with a ribbon before taking a sip of tea.

At Sirius’s blank look, Remus shook his head, “Lily and James are suddenly parents of the savior of the magical world. Wouldn’t you be in shock if you suddenly became a parent?”

“I would be shocked if I became a parent at all.” Sirius admitted.

“Gee, I wonder why…” Lily grumbled into her tea, blinking away the sleep from her eyes.

James nodded mutely, looking down at his toast. He knew that things would be different once they summoned the savior, but that was before he discovered that the savior was his son.

“It’s surreal, isn’t it?” Lily asked quietly, “To think that this whole war would be over if we had just had a child…”

“Don’t say things like that Lily.” James interrupted her, “There was no way we could have known that Harry would end the war.”

Lily opened her mouth to respond, but she shut it when Dumbledore entered the room. “You are free to wonder if the outcome of the war would differ if past events were different Lily” He commented calmly, “But we should focus on the present and, more importantly, the future.” Dumbledore sat at the head of the long table. “I am quite intrigued with Harry and of course how he defeated this evil. 

Several in the kitchen nodded in agreement, some adding their own murmurs and questions.

“He seems awfully young for the slayer of the Serpent King.” Moody grunted.

Dora shook her head, “He’s no younger than Ron, and he’s been fighting since he came of age.”

“Yeah, but Ron’s grown up with this war,” Charlie added, “We all have…”

“Oh for the love of Merlin, would you all stop your gossiping?” Molly interrupted, “The poor boy has gone through quite a bit if you ask me, and he isn’t something you all can oogle at.”

“It’s alright, you all can oogle” The Order turned to look at Harry in the doorway, with Ron close behind him, “Trust me, I’m used to it.”

Dora and some of the other Order members cleared their throats awkwardly. Molly insisted on dragging Harry to the nearest seat at the table.

“Here you are Harry, nothing breakfast can’t cure. You eat on up…” Molly proceeded to pile food onto the young man’s plate.

James watched as Harry smiled back at her and thanked her before eating his food. How could someone be so calm after what happened to him? How could he be so familiar with strangers?

As James stared at Harry, Harry decided to choose that moment to look up from his plate and at James. He did have Lily’s eyes, James admitted, down to the spark of defiance that would flicker from time to time.  Harry definitely got his hair from James, which made sense, and they both needed glasses, or at least back when James had two eyes.

“James, are you done oogling at your son?” Sirius teased, elbowing James’s side. James gave Sirius a glare, but stopped when Harry started laughing.

Lily smiled softly at Harry, “You really aren’t fazed at all by this, are you Harry?”

Harry’s laughter quieted as he took a sip of orange juice, “If you’re asking if I’m surprised and overwhelmed at the situation, don’t be fooled, I freaked out when I woke up this morning. But like I said, I’ve had so many nasty surprises thrown at me; I’ve just learned to deal with what life throws my way.”

“Something that I’m sure we all are eager to learn, Harry.” Dumbledore nodded, steepling his fingers, “A matter that would be best tended to as soon as possible.”

James saw Harry’s shoulders sag at Dumbledore’s words, “I know…but may I finish eating first?” He sounded almost tired in a way.

Dumbledore nodded as Molly insisted on piling more food onto Harry’s plate. James swore he saw a slight smirk on Harry’s face, as if he knew that Molly would make him eat more and thus give him more time before sharing his story.

Would he do that on purpose?

* * *

 

 

 _‘Leave it to Molly Weasley to keep the food coming’_ Harry almost smiled to himself as he ate, thinking of how in Merlin’s name he was going to explain everything to the Order. Did he start with Voldemort coming after him as a child and go through his years at Hogwarts, revealing things when he himself had learned them? No…no, they would just be confused the entire time. Should he explain the Horcruxes first? Merlin no, they would ask nothing but questions the entire time and he wouldn’t be able to explain anything to them.

Before he knew it, his plate was empty. ‘ _Damn…’_

Dumbledore stood, “Perhaps we should move to the study for this…”

Harry shook his head, “Why don’t we stay down here? There are more places for people to sit, plus I feel much more comfortable telling my story here.”

Some of the Order members nodded and took seats around the kitchen table as well as on counter tops and some of the younger members sat on the floor, namely Nymphadora and the younger half of the Weasley clan.

“My boy, we are all eager to know how exactly you came to defeat the Serpent King.” Dumbledore watched Harry with an amused look on his face. The Order members nodded in agreement.

Suddenly Harry felt like he was being interviewed by the _Daily Prophet_ again, “Well to be honest, it’s a very long story, and all of it’s pretty important…” Seeing no objections, Harry continued, “I should probably start when I was a year old.”

Ron’s shoulders sagged and the twins gave a small groan before Arthur shushed them. Harry barely contained a chuckle.

“That’s an awfully long way to go back.” Remus commented quietly.

Harry nodded, “I know, but that’s when the first of several key events happened. It was when the Prophecy was first told.”

“Prophecy?” Bill blurted before he could stop himself. The rest of the Order looked at one another, murmurs rippling throughout the room.

Harry stopped. What if there was no prophecy in this world? Afterall, he wasn’t even born in this world, who knew what else was different?

Dumbledore raised a hand to quiet everyone, “My boy, there are a lot of prophecies in the world, which one would you be referring to?”

Harry looked at Dumbledore. Could it be possible that Dumbledore had kept it a secret? It wouldn’t surprise him in the slightest, the older man did love his secrets. But there was only one way to find out.

“The one told by Sybill Trelawney…” Harry watched Dumbledore’s face, looking for any sort of recognition that he knew that Harry was talking about. “On the night that she was interviewed for the Divinations Professor position at Hogwarts.”

 _There_. The corner of Dumbledore’s eye twitched ever so slightly in recognition.

_You sneaky bastard…_

“I don’t understand,” Harry looked at Frank Longbottom, whose brow was furrowed in confusion, “What was so important about this prophecy?”

Harry’s heart dropped. How had Dumbledore not told the Longbottom’s about the prophecy? He looked at the old wizard in disbelief, “You never told them?” he asked, half in shock and half in disgust.

Dumbledore was not fazed by Harry’s question, “It was not important for them to know.”

Harry stared at Dumbledore for a few moments, “Not important…how in Merlin’s name was that not important?” Harry didn’t mean to get distracted from his story, but some things never changed, and Dumbledore and his secrets was one he didn’t care to deal with at the moment, “Didn’t you think that they should have known why Neville Longbottom died before he had the chance to live?”

Alice flinched at the mention of her late son, and Frank held her tightly in his arms. The whole room sat dead still at Harry’s outburst.

Harry cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed at how quickly he lost his temper. “I’m sorry about that sir, I guess old habits die hard.” He murmured, looking at Dumbledore sheepishly.

The old wizard raised an eyebrow, “Oh? What habits would you be referring to?” he asked curiously, breaking the tension in the room.

Harry sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, “You with your secrets and me with my hating your secrets. It’s what we argued most about…well mostly I did the yelling, but I’m getting off topic.” He took a deep breath to calm himself, “When I was a year old, Trelawney told a prophecy about the Voldemort, or the Serpent King I suppose.”

Moody grunted, “What prophecy?”

“A prophecy that told who could vanquish him.” Harry stated simply, “I don’t remember it word for word, but there were a list of requirements that would point out the one who could kill Tom Riddle.” Harry watched the many eyes of the Order members stare at him in rapt attention, “The child would be born as the seventh month died, to parents who had defied him, Voldemort, three times and lived to tell about it, and he himself would mark him as his equal.”

Alice and Frank shared a look with one another, holding each other’s hands tightly. Harry sighed softly before continuing, “This is where our worlds differ: in my world, there were two children that fit the criteria: myself and Neville. Because I was never born in this world, that left only Neville for Voldemort to kill.” He looked at Alice and Frank, “That’s why Neville was killed, it wasn’t a spontaneous act of violence, the Death Eaters weren’t trying to send a message, Voldemort killed him because Neville was a threat; he would have been the one who would be this world’s savior instead of me.”

The Longbottom’s looked shook up, Alice even buried her face in Frank’s shoulder for a minute or so, “He would have ended this war if we had just—”

Harry interrupted Frank before he could say anything else, “You didn’t know, and no amount of ‘what if’s will bring Neville back.” Telling his story was becoming harder than Harry thought it would be, “But in my world, since it came down between Neville and myself, Tom chose to go after me instead of Neville because Tom saw me as more of an equal.”

Dora raised an eyebrow, “Why were you more of an equal?”

Harry rubbed his temples, “Because we’re both half blood.” Before anyone could interrupt again, Harry continued, “So Tom, Voldemort, the Serpent King or whatever you call him, came after me when I was an infant. The thing that changed everything was the fact that my parents were home.”

* * *

 

“The thing that changed everything was the fact that my parents were home.”

James’ heart stopped. Had he and Lily manage to fight of the Serpent King long enough to save Harry? Was that why Harry was so powerful?

“What happened?” Percy asked from across the kitchen.

James watched as Harry took a deep breath, and noticed that Harry was deliberately not looking at him and Lily, “Dad died first, trying to hold him off so Mum could escape with me. What he didn’t know was that Voldemort had put an anti-Apparition wards on the house, so we were both stuck in the house. When Voldemort tried to kill me, Mum stopped him, begging him to take her instead. He took her up on the offer, thinking that once she was dead, there would be nothing to stop him from killing me.”

James’s blood ran cold. He was dead? Lily was dead? “Why aren’t you dead then?” He found himself asking despite his disbelief.

Harry looked at him, an almost apologetic look on his face, “By sacrificing herself for my life, Mum had invoked some old magic, preventing Voldemort from even touching me. So when he cast the Killing Curse, it had bounced off of me and onto him.”

 _‘It had bounced off_?’James thought, shocked. From the look of several other Order members, they were at a loss as much as he was. Lily gripped his hand tightly beside him as Harry continued.

“For the next ten years of my life, I lived with my aunt and uncle as a muggle.”

“You lived with my sister?” Lily asked, dumbfounded that her baby boy would live with such hateful people, “Why in Merlin’s name were you sent to live with them? Why not with Remus or Sirius?”

Harry rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, Sirius was my godfather, but he was…busy at the time…”

“Busy?” Sirius furrowed his brow, “What the hell was I so busy doing that I made you live with muggles?”

Harry muttered something, making the entire Order (sans Dumbledore of course) to struggle to hear him.

“What was that Harry?” Ron asked from the floor.

“I said Azkaban, alright?” Harry looked down at his empty plate, “Sirius was framed for the murder of 12 muggles and sent to Azkaban.” James could see Sirius’ face pale at the mention of his fate, but Harry made note to not look at him, “I discovered I was a wizard when I was 11, and from then on Voldemort tried to kill me almost every year.”

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, “I thought you said that Voldemort was dead.”

Harry shook his head, “No, just reduced to an almost ghostly form. I’ll explain that more later. Every year Voldemort would try and find a way to come back to his former self and I would find a way to stop him somehow. My first year, it was by trying to retrieve and use the Philosopher’s Stone to achieve immortality, second year it was by trying to drain the life out of a first year witch.”

James noticed that Harry looked like he wasn’t sharing something with the Order, but brushed it off as Harry having some bad memories connected with those years.

“What happened next?” One of the twins, George James thought, asked curiously.

Harry chuckled, “Well third year, Sirius became the first person to escape Azkaban.” James could see Sirius almost beam with pride, “The entire Wizarding World thought that he was after me in some sort of twisted revenge.”

“Well was I?” Sirius asked, worried.

“You were, but not against me.” Harry bit his lip in thought, as if trying to piece together how to tell this particular part of the story, “Do you remember Peter Pettigrew?”

James, Remus, Sirius and even Lily bristled, “What does that traitor have to do with anything?” Remus said quietly.

Harry nodded, “At least some things never change. Well in my world, Pettigrew was my parents Secret Keeper and told Voldemort how to get to the house on the night my parents were killed. Sirius knew that it had to be Pettigrew that told them, so he went after him. Pettigrew was the one who framed him for those 12 muggles and sent him to Azkaban in the first place.” Harry sighed, “Pettigrew faked his own death and hid as Wormtail for the next 12 years as Ron’s pet rat named Scabbers.”

James could see the youngest Weasley boy turn a pale greenish color at the implications, but turned back to Harry as he continued, “Sirius managed to figure that out and came to Hogwarts, but while everyone else was thinking that he was after me, Professor Lupin-”

“Excuse me?” Remus blinked, surprise written on his face, “Professor? Me?”

Harry chuckled, “Yes, you were the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor my third yet, best one in my opinion, but anyways in the end, not only did I discover that Sirius was my godfather, Pettigrew betrayed my parents and that Remus was a werewolf, I got to help a convicted Azkaban felon escape authorities.”

“Sounds like you had quite a year there Harry.” Arthur chuckled slightly, hoping to lift the mood.

Harry shook his head, “Trust me, it only gets more chaotic from here. My fourth year was when Voldemort was able to return to his full power. He managed to drag me to a cemetery with his father was buried and use my blood and his father’s bones, not to mention Pettigrew’s hand, to resurrect himself…” James noted how dim Harry’s eyes got, “That was the first time I saw someone die…and the second time I survived the Killing Curse.”

Moody grunted, “How did you do it this time? Surely Lily’s sacrifice wasn’t still working.”

Harry shook his head, “This is where things get a little fuzzy in my understanding, but I’m guessing because Voldemort marked me as his equal, when I first got my wand at age 11, my wands core came from the exact same phoenix as his. And because of that, they were brothers in a way, so neither would attack the other. So when Voldemort cast the Killing Curse, I cast _Expelliarmus.”_   James could hear a snort come from some of the older members at Harry’s simple spell usage, “They met in the middle and they caused _Priori Incantatem_ , which caused the spirits of Voldemort’s latest spells to emerge…including Mum and Dad. Luckily, I was able to escape with Cedric’s body using the portkey that brought us to the cemetery.”

Cedric? As in Cedric Diggory? Why, James remembered him from another branch of the Order, currently hiding out in Hogsmeade. He sighed, holding Lily’s hand. Harry had certainly done more than most of the Order could even think of doing.

“I warned everyone that Voldemort was back, but all during my fifth year, I was considered a lunatic and a liar. The Ministry of Magic refused to believe that Voldemort was back and that their peace was threatened. So it wasn’t until a few of my friends and I fought Deatheaters in the Department of Mysteries that anyone took me seriously, but that wasn’t until after Sirius was killed in the fight.” Harry refused to look at Sirius, who was very pale at the news of his death, “It was also the first time I used an Unforgivable…”

James could see Molly’s scandalized face, but he honestly couldn’t bring himself to feel the same fear at the mention of an Unforgivable. After fighting a war for so long, there wasn’t much that was truly unforgivable…he turned and looked at Harry, “You didn’t kill anyone did you?”

Harry shook his head again, “No, nothing like that. Bellatrix was the one who killed Sirius and-” Harry stopped when several of the Order members clenched their teeth, some even hissing at the mentioning of Bellatrix Lestrange. “What?”

“Damn the Black Mamba…” Sirius clenched his fist.

Harry looked at Dumbledore for some sort of explanation. The old man took a calm breath, “You see Harry, some of the Order have seen fit to label some of the Serpent King’s followers as certain types of serpents.”

“Like my bitch of a cousin.” Sirius swore.

Harry nodded in recognition. “She’s just as evil in my world. After she killed you, she started mocking me. I was so mad that I _Crucio’d_ her.” Lily stared at Harry in shock, “After the battle was over, Dumbledore finally told me about the prophecy, and I learned that I would be the only one that could kill Voldemort.”

James noticed how Harry’s eyes got darker, “My sixth year I spent learning all I could about Voldemort, and more importantly, Tom Riddle. Dumbledore and I looked at as many memories of Tom as we could, looking for clues.”

Dumbledore looked curious, “Clues for what?”

Harry looked back at Dumbledore, “Clues to what Tom would choose for his Horcruxes.”

Lily raised an eyebrow, “I’ve never heard of a Horcrux before….”

“I wouldn’t expect you to, it’s very dark magic.” Harry commented, “It’s an ordinary object that can hold a piece of a person’s soul. The only way that one can tear their soul into pieces is by killing, which makes sense for Voldemort.” A wave of murmurs rippled through the Order before Harry spoke again, “That’s why he didn’t die on the night he tried to kill me as an infant. And that’s why he barely looks human.”

Dumbledore nodded in recognition, “The idea of Horcruxes hadn’t even crossed my mind.”

Harry nodded in return, “That’s what I spent my seventh year doing, I didn’t attend Hogwarts so I could search and destroy each and every one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes.”

“How many were there?” Moody asked urgently. James couldn’t help but wonder the same thing. If everything was the same so far, then the Serpent King probably had the same number of Horcruxes.

“He had seven total, he wanted a powerful magical number. I discovered that I had already destroyed one in my second year of Hogwarts and that Dumbledore had destroyed another the previous year. During my seventh year, my friends and I destroyed three more.”

“That’s only five.” Frank pointed out.

Harry nodded, “That’s because we were interrupted by the Battle of Hogwarts. It was Deatheaters against students and Order members. During the chaos, I had discovered that I was one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes.”

Lily gasped, “But how-?”

“When he killed tried to kill me, part of his soul transferred to me. An accident, but I was still a Horcrux…so I went out to meet him, knowing he would kill me.” Harry took a deep breath, ignoring the murmurs, “And that’s how I survived the Killing Curse the third time. When Voldemort killed me, he didn’t kill me, he destroyed the Horcrux.”

James stared at Harry. If Harry weren’t the son he never had, he wouldn’t believe a word he was saying. It seemed so surreal.

“Of course, that didn’t stop Voldemort from dragging me into Hogwarts to gloat over my dead body” James noticed Harry roll his eyes, “He tried to make an example out of Neville because Neville refused to bow down to him.” Ignoring the horrified looks from Alice and Frank, Harry continued, “He put the Sorting Hat on Neville’s head and set it on fire. What Voldemort forgot was that in his act of defiance, Neville had proven himself a true Gryffindor and so the Sword of Gryffindor dropped from the hat, with which Neville was able to destroy the last Horcrux.”

Dora looked at Molly, mumbling about the Sword of Gryffindor, while Moody muttered his congratulations to Frank and Alice on their son’s courageous act.

“With all the Horcruxes destroyed, I chose that moment to ‘come back to life’” James noticed the sarcasm in Harry’s voice, “There was a huge uproar on both sides, but they both seemed to know that it came down to me and him. Winner take all.”

Harry stopped talking, much to the irritation of the Order, “Well? What happened?”

“Well I won obviously.”

“Boy, stop beating around the bush, how did you defeat him?” Moody growled, getting impatient.

“One, don’t call me Boy. Ever. Two, don’t call me Boy.” Harry frowned, then sighed, “There was a lot of talking between the two of us before Voldemort cast the Killing Curse again. I countered with _Expelliarmus_. Voldemort’s wand flew out of his hand, causing the spell to bounce back and kill him…for real.”

With that, Harry stood up, “That’s my story, thank you for listening to it.”

“Hold up,” Sirius stood up as well, “There’s something you’re not telling us.”

“You could write several books with the things that I didn’t tell you, but everyone has their secrets.” Harry retorted, stretching his back.

Before anyone else could say anything, Dumbledore raised a hand to quiet everyone, “Well thank you for sharing with us Harry, but now we should move into the study to work on how we will defeat the Serpent King.”

Everyone stood, some stretching their limbs, some just glad to move.

 

* * *

 

Harry walked as slowly as he could up to the study, the Weasley boys close behind him.

“Did you really kill the Serpent King with an _Expelliarmus?_ ” Percy muttered, astonished.

Harry nodded, “Yes, it’s more or less my signature move back home. All the Deatheaters knew that I liked to use it.”

Fred chuckled, “Bloody brilliant using a first year level spell to kill the darkest wizard of all time”

George snickered with his twin, and Harry was glad that the Weasley boys could still joke in such a dark world.

Ron cleared his throat as they climbed the stairs, “So Harry…er, in your world, what with Hogwarts and all, do you know if any of us…well, if we’re dating anyone?”

Harry struggled to keep from laughing. Leave it to Ron to still be awkward about girls, “Hermione.”

“What?” At this, even Bill and Charlie looked at Harry in shock.

“That’s Ron’s girlfriend’s name: Hermione Granger.” Harry chuckled at the look on Ron’s face.

“Wicked…” The stupid grin on Ron’s face couldn’t get any wider.

Harry smirked, “Not as wicked as Bill marrying a veela.” Before any of the Weasley boys could say anything, Harry walked into the study.

Dumbledore was already sitting at the desk, looking at a massive book, “What is that?” Harry asked, curious.

“This, my boy, is the book that brought you here” Dumbledore turned the book so that Harry could have a look.

But something else had caught Harry’s eye. A small leather bound text.

“Why do you have that?” He asked loudly, pointing at the small book.

At the question, Dora stepped forward, embarrassed. “Um, that was my mistake. When I stole the tome from Castle Slytherin, that one fell off the shelf and I didn’t have time to put it back in place.”

Harry nodded, picking up the small leather bound book. He looked at it for a few moments in silence, knowing the Order was watching him while he did.

“What is it Harry?” Ron asked, “What’s so important about that book?”

Harry sighed, “I hate diaries.”


	7. Chapter 7

To say that Neville Longbottom had outgrown all expectations set before him would have been an understatement. From the time that he was young, his family expected him to be just as brave and just as strong as his parents were. And for many of his early years, he had been nothing but a worthless disappointment. He hadn’t even the strength to believe in himself.

Until he met Harry. Sure the changes were small, like earning 10 points for Gryffindor their first year and securing the house cup, but they were there. By their fifth year, Harry had opened a door to Neville that Neville wasn’t even sure would ever be open to him. Under Harry’s teaching in Dumbledore’s Army, Neville’s confidence grew, and along with that, so did his magic. By the time Harry left with Ron and Hermione to hunt down Horcruxes, Neville was ready to step up and take Harry’s place as leader of Dumbledore’s Army. Even when Voldemort himself had tried to make an example of him by setting the Sorting Hat on fire, he stood strong.

“You would have been proud of me, Mum.” Neville smiled kindly to his mother as he told her the story for the millionth time. “I got to wield the Sword of Gryffindor and I even slayed Nagini. You should have seen the look on Voldemort’s face, Dad. It was priceless.” He chuckled lightheartedly.

Frank and Alice Longbottom weren’t listening to Neville’s story. They never did, but Neville didn’t mind. He just enjoyed spending time with his parents.

Neville suddenly felt something warm in his pocket, and reached into his pocket curiously. It was his day off, what could Ron possibly have that was so important that he would interrupt his visit with his parents, not to mention contact him through his DA coin? He took out the gold Galleon that was in his pocket and looked at the edge, wondering what his partner found so urgent.

_12 Grimmauld ASAP_

_Oh_. That would be important, especially to Ron, and Neville for that matter. Ever since Ron had gotten them assigned to the Potter case (though Neville abhorred referring to Harry’s disappearance as such), he was investigating nonstop. And now he was probably waiting impatiently waiting for Neville to show up to search Harry’s house. With a sigh, Neville got up and smoothed out the wrinkles in his slacks.

“I’ve got to go now, Mum, Dad. I’ll be back next week.” Neville smiled softly before living his parents’ room at St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

 

* * *

 

“Well it’s about time you got here.” Ron huffed, sitting on the front porch with his arms crossed.

Neville rolled his eyes, “Sorry, I was visiting my parents.” He looked up at the house before them, “I can’t believe that Harry still lives here.”

Ron nodded as he stood up, “It looks much nicer on the inside, Harry fixed it up after the war.”

“No doubt he did,” Neville muttered, “Why did you wait outside for me? Didn’t Harry give you a key to this place?”

Ron opened his mouth to respond, then shut it again when he realized that Neville was right. “…Stuff it.” He grumbled, already getting his key out to unlock the front door.

Only to find the door unlocked.

“Andromeda did say the place had been unlocked…” Ron muttered, fighting the blush that was creeping up his neck, “And that’s not like Harry at all…”

Neville nodded slowly, “Anyone that would have used the front door would have needed to get through Harry’s _Fidelius_ charm.” The Auror made his way through the doorway, “Awfully paranoid of Harry to still use a _Fidelius_ charm after the war’s over, isn’t it?”

As Ron shut the door, he shook his head, “Harry’s not paranoid, he’s just private.” He muttered, inspecting a coat rack.

It made sense to Neville, after all, Harry was the Savior of the Wizarding World, he probably didn’t want everyone and their aunt to know where he lived. Who knew how many requests for interviews or autographs he would get if they knew?

“His cloak is missing.” Ron stated, pointing to the coat rack.

“Which cloak?” Neville asked curiously, “ _The_ cloak?”

Ron rolled his eyes, “Of course his Invisibility Cloak Neville, I really wouldn’t care if his best winter cloak was missing.”

Neville sighed. He was used to Ron’s outbursts, especially now with his best friend missing. “Well if it was just a normal cloak missing, it would have meant that perhaps Harry simply left without telling anyone.”

Ron shook his head stubbornly, “Harry isn’t the type to run off without telling anyone.”

Neville just stared at Ron for a long moment before rolling his eyes, “…What are you talking about? Harry’s been the type to run off since he was 11. Harry, you, and Hermione got rather good at running off.” Ignoring Ron’s protests, Neville went upstairs to Harry’s room to double check and see if anything was missing.

Not that he would have been able to know if anything was missing from the bedroom. Harry’s room reflected what his trunk always looked like at Hogwarts: a mess. Cloths were everywhere, drawers were left open and the bed was a disaster. _‘Typical Harry…’_ Neville mused as he pawed though the items on the floor.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been searching for clues, but Neville had been so enthralled with the task at hand that he hadn’t heard Ron come into the bedroom.

“The map is missing.”

Neville jumped a bit, surprised by the sudden noise, before standing up straight and looking at Ron, “What map?”

Ron shook his head, “His father map of Hogwarts…” Seeing Neville’s curious expression, he elaborated, “It was enchanted…It’s how we were able to sneak around Hogwarts without getting caught.”

 _‘Well that makes sense.’_   Neville mused at the secret of Harry’s sneaking ability. “So Harry was going to Hogwarts when he was abducted?”

“Or whoever abducted him wanted Harry to get him into Hogwarts.” Ron added, looking around the room, “No…Harry’s coat is missing, he was getting ready to leave when he was abducted.”

“How…” Neville shook his head, deciding not to ask how Ron knew that Harry’s coat was missing from the mess of cloths on the floor. He would just chalk that up to Ron being Harry’s best friend. “Nevermind. Should we check the study?”

Before Ron could answer, a third voice was heard from downstairs.

“Ron! I need some help!” Hermione shouted, bouncing a very fussy Teddy in her arms and his bag slung over a shoulder.

Ron groaned as Neville shook his head, “You should tell Hermione that this isn’t Hogwarts anymore, she can’t come barging onto crime scenes like this.” Both Ron and Neville knew that the warning was empty, that Neville was just teasing.

None the less, Ron made his way downstairs. “Hermione, I told you I had to work today…” Ron groaned in frustration.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “I know, but he won’t stop crying. Could you hold him for a minute Ron, he likes you.” She pleaded while Teddy continued his crying rampage.

Neville watched as Ron’s will crumbled under Hermione’s pleading gaze. Finally, he took Teddy in his arms. “Just until he falls asleep…” He grumbled. Teddy looked up at Ron’s hair and, in a fit of giggles, sported a tuft of bright red hair.

“I told you he likes you…” Hermione muttered, looking around the house, “So what have you guys found out?”

With a chuckle, Neville followed Hermione, “Not much, although Ron’s pointed out that Harry’s cloak and some map are missing…”

Hermione stopped, crossing her arms as she pondered, “Not many people know about the map…either someone knows about the map or-”

“Or Harry was on his way to Hogwarts before he was abducted. Ron already came up with that idea.” Neville chuckled as he went into the study, only to immediately fight the urge to sneeze. “I’m guessing that Harry doesn’t use this room much?”

Nodding, Hermione moved forward into the room, obviously not affected by the dust, “Harry doesn’t work, so he doesn’t have much need for a study, now does he?” She chuckled as she looked around the room, even getting down on all fours to look under the desk.

Neville cleared his throat, “Uh, Hermione? I know you have a knack for investigating, but maybe you should let-”

“RON!”

Neville almost jumped out of his skin at Hermione’s suddenly raised voice. Soon he could hear Ron taking the stairs two at a time before rushing into the study, with Teddy in his arms.

“Do you have to yell Hermione? Teddy was almost asleep…” Ron almost whined, rocking Teddy and trying to calm him back down. Teddy seemed more interested with Ron’s hair than going to sleep.

Hermione sighed, “Trust me, this is important…” She replied as she reached under the desk, pulling out a small mirror.

Neville raised an eyebrow. A mirror? What could possibly be so important about a-

“…Is that…?”

Hermione nodded, “Its Harry’s mirror.”

“Could one of you fill me in on what you two are on about?” Neville sighed, “I wasn’t exactly blessed with inside knowledge of what goes on in your heads.” He loved Ron and Hermione, and Harry too, but sometimes it was hard to get a grasp of what went on in their little microcosm.

Ron shifted Teddy to one arm while he took the mirror from Hermione, “This mirror is one in a set of two two-way mirrors. The other belonged to Sirius…after he died, Harry smashed the mirror into pieces, but kept the shards with him at all times afterward…” Ron trailed off as he examined the mirror in his hand.

“Harry must have repaired it after the war…” Hermione trailed off, getting up from the floor. “Harry would have had to have been taken by force if he left this behind.”

Neville shook his head, “That doesn’t make sense. If Harry was leaving, why is the mirror in the study? And if Harry was taken by force, wouldn’t there be a sign of a struggle? The dust hardly looks disturbed in here…” He did have a point. The thin layer of dust everywhere was a dead giveaway that nothing had happened in the room.

Hermione crossed her arms, her eyebrows knit together in deep thought, “There has to be an explanation…”

“This isn’t Harry’s mirror.”

Shaken from her thoughts, Hermione looked at Ron in confusion, “What are you talking about? Of course it’s Harry’s.”

Ron only shook his head, showing the back of the mirror to Hermione and Neville.

_Sirius Black_

“So…this is Sirius’s mirror?” Neville guessed, trying his best to catch up with Ron and Hermione’s maze of inside information.

Ron nodded, “Aberforth must have given it back to Harry after the war…”

“Why did…you know what? I don’t care,” Neville threw up his hands in surrender, “I’m not going to try and understand, just tell me what it means.”

Hermione snatched the mirror from Ron’s hand, “If this is Sirius’s mirror-”

“Then Harry still has his mirror.” Ron finished, “And if Harry still has his mirror-”

“Then we can contact Harry!” Hermione finished for Ron, almost beaming at the possibility. Neville noted that even Hermione wasn’t immune to the call of a possible adventure.

Ron nodded as he swayed with Teddy in his arms, “…But how do we use it?”

Hermione’s face dropped into a very concentrated look, tapping her finger against her chin. Neville couldn’t help but notice how, despite hose close the trio was, they each still had their own secrets, and how Harry’s secrets always kept others from helping him.

“Maybe there’s a spell needed to use it…” Ron muttered, although to Neville, it sounded more like his partner was thinking out loud to Hermione, who was nodding absentmindedly, lost in her own thoughts.

“Do you remember Harry ever using his mirror?” Neville hoped that he could jog his friends’ memory. Neither of them replied, simply staring at the mirror in Hermione’s hand. Even Teddy turned his attention from Ron’s red hair to the tiny mirror. _‘Great, even the baby understands this better than I do…_ ’

“Harry only used it once that I know of…” Ron sighed, stroking Teddy’s hair.

Hermione nodded, “And all he really did was talk to it…more like yelled at it…” She stared at the mirror for another moment.

“Should we just yell at the mirror?” Ron asked, before raising his voice, “OI! HARRY! ARE YOU THERE?”

“Ron, really, I think Harry only yelled at the mirror because we were in danger.” Hermione rolled her eyes as she looked at the mirror, “Harry, if you can hear us, we would really like it if you would let us know you’re alright…”

The mirror did nothing, much to the frustration of everyone in the room.

Neville sighed, “Maybe we should try something-”

“DAMNIT HARRY!” Neville jumped at Hermione’s sudden cursing. Even Ron covered Teddy’s ears, “DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO GET INTO TROUBLE WHEN WE AREN’T WATCHING YOU? IF YOU GET HURT OR WE HAVE TO COME AFTER YOU, SO HELP ME HARRY JAMES POTTER-”

Hermione’s rant was cut off when the mirror’s surface suddenly went black. Neville stared in shock. To be honest, he hadn’t expected the mirror to work at all, serves him right for not trusting the word of Harry’s right hand man and woman.

Ron stared at the black mirror, “…Harry?”

There was no response from Harry, but they all could hear some rustling on the other side of the mirror.

Neville raised his eyebrow, “…It’s in his pocket…”

Ron and Hermione nodded, “He can’t  hear-”

_“Hermione.”_

Hermione almost jumped, “Harry? Harry, I’m right here. Where are you?”

 _“What?”_ It wasn’t Harry that spoke this time. Instead, it sounded more like…

“What is Harry doing with Bill and Charlie?” Ron raised an eyebrow, “Charlie is back in Romania and Bill should be with Fleur, shouldn’t he?”

Hermione shook her head, “It doesn’t make sense…”

_“That’s Ron’s girlfriend’s name: Hermione Granger.”_

Neville blinked, “Why wouldn’t your brothers know you were dating Hermione?”

“They do…” Ron replied, growing more and more confused, “Harry’s acting weird…”                                                                   

 _“Wicked…”_ The three (plus Teddy) jumped at the sound of Ron’s voice in the mirror 

“What in Merlin’s name-”

_“Not as wicked as Bill marrying a veela.”_

Hermione shook her head again, as if trying to shake the confusion out of her head, “Why wouldn’t you know that Bill married Fleur, you were there?”

“Forget about that Hermione,” Ron blanched, “Harry thinks he’s with me!”

Neville nodded, “Whoever has him has Harry thinking that he’s not in danger, so Harry’s not going to try and leave…not without our help.”

* * *

 

_[back in Darkverse]_

 

“A diary?” Lily asked, staring at the book in Harry’s hand. It didn’t make much sense to her, but from the look on Harry’s face, the book held some untold meaning.

Harry nodded grimly, turning the book over in his hands.

“What’s so special about a diary?” Moody grunted from his spot next to Dumbledore. Lily could tell that Moody was having a hard time trusting Harry, and she didn’t blame him. Harry was supposed to be her son, and she was scared of him for some reason. He knew things no man his age should have ever known…

Dumbledore cleared his throat, “I must agree with Alastor, Harry. Perhaps if you could explain to the rest of us what this book meant in your world, we could better understand…”

It surprised Lily at Harry’s lack of respect for Dumbledore, the way he casually sat himself on his desk, not taking his eyes off the book that Dora  had accidently stolen. She watched with the rest of the Order in silence as Harry opened the book and leafed through its pages.

Finally, Harry looked back up at the rest of the Order, “This is not just any diary, it’s the diary that Tom Riddle himself kept while he was in Hogwarts.” No one in the Order responded much to that information except for the occasional glance at one another and some murmurs rippling through one another. Harry noticed this and sighed, “It’s also the first Horcrux I destroyed.”

Lily took a step back out of instinct. That book held a portion of the Serpent King’s soul? And Harry just held it as if it was no different from any other novel or reference book. In her musings, Lily had bumped into James’s chest. In response, her husband wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “It’s unreal…” she whispered.

James nodded, “It is a bit scary isn’t it?” he whispered back. Lily didn’t answer, just staring at Harry. This was supposed to be the son she never had… “Lily, the spell wouldn’t have brought him here if he wasn’t going to save us.” He reassured her quietly, hugging her close to himself. Lily knew that James was right, she was just scared of what Harry had in mind…

“This is interesting to say the least,” Dumbledore mused, watching Harry, “Now do you suppose that the Horcruxes are all the same as in your world Harry?”

Harry nodded, “If the only thing that’s different in this world is that I was never born, then all but one Horcrux should be the same…This one was made when Tom was 16.”

Even Moody looked shocked at the revelation, “Are you trying to suggest that the Serpent King started killing while he was a student?”

Harry didn’t flinch at Moody’s rough behavior, “How would you explain Moaning Myrtle?”

Alice raised an eyebrow, “You mean that ghost that used to haunt the girls toilet?”

“The very same,” Harry nodded, “That was more than 50 years ago, wasn’t it Dumbledore? Her death almost caused Hogwarts to shut down?” He looked straight at Dumbledore, “And Tom was about 16 when it happened, wasn’t he?”

Dumbledore nodded slowly, “I was suspicious of Tom at the time…but I had no proof that Tom was behind her death…”

“Well either way, we have one of the seven Horcruxes, and that’s a start.” Harry muttered.

“We should destroy it now and be done with it!” Charlie Weasley urged, wary of the small book. Moody even drew his wand to do the job.

Harry shook his head, “It takes a lot more than a spell to destroy a Horcrux.”

James took the opportunity to speak up, “How did you destroy it in your world Harry?”

At the simple question, Harry paused, not saying anything. To Lily he looked like he was thinking of a lie, but she didn’t say anything. The boy deserved to have some privacy…provided that it didn’t endanger them…

“A very strong poison.” Harry responded shortly, looking at the blank pages, “Now I’ll need some help with research, I need to know everything about this world’s Voldemort as I can before we can find the other Horcruxes.”

“Shouldn’t we find a way to destroy this one before we look for the other Horcruxes?” Ron asked curiously.

“No. Not until we have all the Horcruxes.” Harry replied curtly, “If we destroy one Horcrux at a time, Voldemort will know what we’re up to.”

Bill Weasley looked confused, “How could he possibly know?”

“Wouldn’t you feel it if part of your soul died?” Lily shivered at the serious tone in Harry’s voice. She had no doubt that he could save them, but she was frightened by what Harry was hiding.

* * *

 

 _‘The rebels are more crafty than I had first believed…’_ The Serpent King sat in his throne room, what was once the Great Hall, musing on what the rebels could have possibly have planned. 

“Your majesty, I highly doubt that the rebels will be able to do anything with the book they have stolen.” Lucius Malfoy commented from his position at the right side of the throne, “Knowing the knowledge those filth possess, it’s more likely that those fools will blow themselves up.”

The King turned his attention to his General, his right hand man. Lucius was everything that his empire stood for: pure blood, capable intelligence, Slytherin cunning and fierce loyalty. Although Lucius did have a tendency of being more arrogant than Tom would prefer, he was a nearly perfect follower.

“It is best not to underestimate one’s opponent Lucius. That is how wars are lost.” Tom took a drink of wine from his cup, going back to his thoughts of the rebels. _‘How did they even know that the diary was a Horcrux? Not even my inner circle knows about them…no one knows…They must have stolen it on accident…that must be what happened...’_

A hand moved across his shoulder, causing Tom to look over at Bellatrix, “We all know that those rebels wouldn’t do anything with real power, they’re too frightened to use anything they deem dark.” She cooed, sitting on one of the arms of the King’s throne. “Especially that fool Dumbledore.”

Tom noted that she did have a point, but it wasn’t the spell book he was worried about.

“Regardless if they are capable or not of doing anything will become obvious in time.” Draco replied from his seat at the King’s feet, resting his chin on Tom’s knee, “If there is one thing that the rebels can always be counted on, it’s saving those they believe are in need.” The smaller blond folded his hands over Tom’s lap, “They will easily reveal themselves and their motives in a time of need.”

The Serpent King felt a smile tug on the corner of his mouth. If Lucius was what his empire stood for, then Draco was the crowning jewel of Slytherin. While Lucius had moments of arrogance, Draco was a perfectly molded heir, submissive enough to ease Tom’s mind of any revolts, yet still more cunning than the rest of his followers combined, including Lucius.

Tom ran a hand through Draco’s hair, making his heir lean to his touch, “An excellent point Draco. You are learning well.”

Draco hummed contently, “I’ve learned from the best.” He murmured.

Lucius didn’t flinch at Tom’s adoration of his son, in fact he gave no reaction at all while Bellatrix barely bit back a sneer at the young Malfoy.

Before either could say anything, the Serpent King spoke again, “You heard the Prince. Perhaps we should cause a little chaos for the rebels to reveal themselves.”


	8. Chapter 8

“If I were Voldemort, where would I keep my Horcruxes?” Harry muttered to himself, paging through what little references the Order had. It was nothing more than a few newspapers really.

“It’s the only information the public is allowed to have.” Lily, his mother, told him as she set a stack of papers on the table.

“Makes sense” Harry grumbled, “If knowledge is power, it would be best to keep his enemies powerless.”

Lily nodded, sitting next to Harry, “Luckily we kept all of these newspapers in our archive…” She said as she picked up a copy of _The Daily Prophet_.

“I wouldn’t exactly call this an archive…” Harry trailed off as Lily looked at him. He forgot that this was his mother he was talking to.

“I know…but it’s all we have.” Lily sighed.

The two sat in silence for a while, just paging through the old newspapers. Harry would glance over at his mother, knowing that she had no idea what she was looking for yet Lily was stubbornly searching for some miraculous clue to jump out at her. With a small smile, Harry turned back to his own paper. Apparently, Voldemort didn’t waste any time taking over after Neville was killed, considering that the headline for January 1st was ‘ _New Year, New King’_. There were a lot of issues that had Voldemort on the front page and in more current issues; he was even seen drinking wine from an overly lavish cup.

_Wait a minute…_

Harry peered closer at all the front page photos. Sure enough, once he started drinking from that cup, he was never seen without it. It never even left his hand…

“He wouldn’t…”

“Wouldn’t what?” Harry jumped at Lily’s response. To be honest, he had forgotten she was even there “What is it Harry?”

Harry showed the picture to his mother, “Do you see that cup?”

Lily nodded slowly, “The wine cup?” She asked quietly.

Harry nodded, “Notice how from this issue onward, he’s never seen without it?” He waited for Lily to rummage through the issues.

Lily raised an eyebrow, “What does that mean? Is there something in the wine?”

“No, the wine or whatever he’s drinking is just that, a drink.” At Lily’s confused look, Harry picked up a magnifying glass, “Look at the cup closer.” Lily did as he asked, peering at the picture meticulously. After a few moments, Harry spoke again, “What do you see?”

Lily waited another moment before speaking, never taking her eyes off the photo, “It’s old, that’s for sure…the detail is quite nice…there’s something on the side, but his hand is in the way…”

“It’s an ‘H’.” Harry told her.

Lily looked up, “How do you know that?”

Harry sighed, “I’ve seen this cup before.” Lily nodded, waiting for harry to go on, “The ‘H’ stands for Helga, or Hufflepuff, but basically it belongs to her.”

“Helga Hufflepuff?” Lily’s eyes widened, “Why would he have that? Voldemort has always held Syltherin above all other houses, why would his prized possession be a possession of Hufflepuff?”

“It’s still an important artifact.” Harry shook his head, “Three of Voldemort’s Horcruxes are items that belonged to the founders. One of them was this cup.”

Lily looked back at the picture, “So this is-”

“Yes.”

“Sweet Merlin…” Lily muttered, “…Was it like this in your world?”

To be honest, Harry wasn’t expecting his mother to ask something suddenly. He cleared his throat awkwardly, “Well in my world, the cup was in a Gringotts vault…”

“Harry.” Lily said quietly, “What was your life like?”

“I already told everyone my story-”

“I heard your story.” Lily told him, “I want to know about you as a man.” She sighed, “You lived with my sister for a few years. How was that?”

Harry chuckled, “Well…”

She smiled, “That bad?” At Harry’s sheepish expression, she continued, “Petunia always wanted people to like her; she loved normal and hated magic.”

“She was spurned by magic when it chose you and not her.” Harry pointed out, “She was more jealous of you than angry at you. When I was left with her and Uncle Vernon, I was a reminder of what she never got to have…” Harry trailed off as Lily started laughing.

Once she quieted down, Lily smiled, “You don’t have to sugarcoat everything Harry. If my sister married Vernon Dursley, then I’m sure you were miserable.”

Harry smiled softly, “I lived in a cupboard under the staircase for ten years.”

Lily rose an eyebrow, “That is bad.”

Harry nodded, “They told me that you died in a car crash…I never knew I was a wizard.”

“That sounds like Vernon…” Lily sighed, “I’m sorry you led such a horrible life.”

“Who said my life was horrible?” Harry asked, paging through more papers. “Horrible things happened, I’ll admit, but I had, have a good life.”

Lily blinked, “You just said-”

Harry chuckled, “Yes, well as much as I dreaded when my cousin wanted to play _Harry-hunting_ , the Dursleys were a small part of my life.” He smiled softly, “Hogwarts was a big part of my life once I got my letter. I have a lot of happy memories there, a lot of friends.”

She smiled softly, “What house were you sorted into?”

With a smile, Harry leaned back in his chair, “I was sorted into Gryffindor, with some reluctance from the Sorting Hat.”

“Reluctance?” His mother raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

Harry paused for a moment to think of how to explain himself. “Well, the Sorting Hat told me that I would have done well in Slytherin.”

“Slytherin?” Lily asked, shocked. Harry nodded, expecting her reaction, “Why Slytherin?”

“Well, oddly enough, Voldemort and I are quite similar in our upbringings and we share a few traits. Obviously not enough for me to become a homicidal megalomaniac, but enough to cause the Sorting Hat to consider the possibility that I would have done well in Slytherin house. I told it to put me in Gryffindor, and that was that.”

“I didn’t realize that the Sorting Hat took requests.” Both Lily and Harry turned to see James standing in the doorway, watching them with his one good eye.

While James approached the table, Harry chuckled, “It usually doesn’t, but in the case of two possible houses, it will usually trust your judgment.”

“Harry was in Gryffindor, James.” Lily smiled softly, almost repeating the information for the sake of hearing it again. Harry smiled at her in return.

James nodded and as he sat down, Harry could see how stiff James acted around him, and could see how James was struggling with Harry’s presence as his son. It was oddly comforting that he wasn’t the only one adjusting to change, “Did you play Quidditch at all Harry?” He asked, clearing his throat.

“Oh no, not Quidditch.” Lily rolled her eyes, but at Harry’s wide grin, she chuckled, “Should I leave you two to bond?”

Harry laughed, “No, don’t leave,” Lily’s joked had lightened the mood for Harry, which he was grateful for, “I actually became the youngest Seeker of the century. Through dumb luck, I managed to get on the house team my first year.”

“Seeker?” James smiled softly, “I was a Chaser in my years at Hogwarts. I remember in my sixth year, I-”

“Harry please,” Harry looked over at Lily, who had a pleading look on her face, “If you’re the savior, please save me from listening to James’s Quidditch stories.”

James furrowed his eyebrows, “Oi! Those are great stories!”

“James, I was there for all of them!” Lily teased. The two bickered a bit back and forth, more teasing more than arguing. Harry was glad that even a war didn’t affect a husband and wife’s ability to bicker and tease.

Seeing Harry’s smile, James chuckled, “Sorry you have to us argue like this.”

Harry shook his head, “Don’t worry about it. In fact, I’m just glad everyone can talk about things besides the war.”

Both James and Lily nodded, looking from each other to Harry, “I haven’t talked about Quidditch in ages…” said James, lips tugging into a smile before looking at the newspapers. “Have you found anything?”

Lily blinked, “Oh!” she chuckled before showing her husband the photo, “It’s the cup.”

“The cup?”

“It’s Helga Hufflepuff’s.”

“Helga Hufflepuff’s?”

“Yeah, it was a Horcrux in my world.”

“That’s…unreal…”

Harry nodded, watching his father process the information. His one hazel eye was focused intently on the newspapers. Which reminded Harry… ”Can I ask you something?”

James nodded, “Of course Harry, what is it?”

Harry laughed sheepishly, “What happened…to uh…” Harry was at a loss for words, so he gestured to his face, waving his hand over his eye.

“My eye?” James chuckled at Harry’s sheepish expression. Harry watched as James touched the leather of his eye patch. Lily sat next to him, quietly holding his free hand. Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to ask… “I was on a mission to retrieve information from the Embassy, what used to be the Ministry of Magic.” James stared, interrupting Harry’s train of thought, “All magical references were taken to Castle Slytherin- Hogwarts.” He added, seeing Harry’s expression, “But Dumbledore wanted me to retrieve the archive files, to see what books were now at Castle Slytherin.”

“I had a bad feeling about the mission to begin with…” Lily muttered.

James nodded, “But I went, Dumbledore needed the archive files. The mission itself was easy, I should have realized that it was too easy…when I came out of the archives, Deatheaters were waiting for me, led by the King Cobra.”

“Voldemort?” Harry found himself asking.

Lily shook her head, “Lucius Malfoy.”

“Malfoy is Voldemort’s right hand man, his general and confidant.” James explained, “And since he was waiting for me, it meant that someone had alerted the Deatheaters of our plans. Of course I’d find out later that Peter had been spying for quite some time…little rat.”

Harry clenched his fist in anger, but said nothing. _‘Some things never change…’_

“I was able to survive the fight pretty well, a got a couple cuts and burns, but I was able to stun my way out of the heat of the battle.” James shook his head, “I was running full sprint to the Portkey and…damnit, something compelled me to look over my shoulder to check my back…” Harry waited while James shook his head, “That damn King Cobra got my eye.”

“Was it a severing charm?” Harry asked, almost disgusted that he was so curious.

James kept shaking his head, “No, he plucked it right out…I was barely able to get to the Portkey in my pain…”

Harry’s stomach flipped inside out. And as horrible as it was, Harry was glad that Pettigrew’s betrayal had only cost his father his eye, not his life.

“Luckily, Dumbledore was able to fix my remaining eye to make up for depth perception, so I can see fine.” James sighed, “And he got his files…which now that I think about it, that’s probably how we found the book that brought you to us Harry.”

Harry smiled softly, “Was it worth it then?”

There was a moment of silence that Harry and James just stared at each other. Finally, James smiled softly, “Yeah…more than worth it.”

Harry broke out into a smile, enjoying the warm moment with his parents.

Unfortunately for the newly formed family, the sound of a roaring fire bursting to life in the next room shook them from their happy thoughts.

“What’s happening?” Harry asked, standing up.

James was already halfway out the door already, “Someone’s calling us through the Floo…it must be urgent…”

By the time the Potter family got to the study, the entire Order was standing around the fireplace, Dumbledore standing in front of them all. From where Harry stood, he could see the face of Angelina Johnson looking frantically at Dumbledore.

“ _Sir, Dementors are attacking Hogsmeade!”_

Harry stifled a groan. Why was it always Dementors?

“Miss Johnson, am I correct in assuming your companions are out fighting?” Dumbledore asked calmly, watching her evenly.

_“Yes, Cedric and Cho are defending the town while Seamus and Dean are evacuating civilians. Oliver has been trying to keep the Dementors from attacking civilians, but we need help!”_

“Miss Johnson, how many Dementors do you think there are?”

Angelina shook her head quickly, “ _I’ve got to say at least a hundred!_ ”

Dumbledore nodded, “Help is on the way Miss Johnson, please continue to stay alive.”

The fire went dead as Angelina ended the Floo connection. Dumbledore turned to face the Order.

“So who’s going?” Moody grunted.

Dumbledore barely took a moment before answering, “Remus, Lily, Sirius, Charlie, Bill and James.”

“Why only so many?” Harry asked, surprised.

Moody looked at him, “They’re only Dementors, which means that the Deatheaters may very well be somewhere else. We need the rest of the Order in case this turns out to be a diversion.”

Harry blinked. “That makes sense…” he muttered, “I should go too.” Harry added. He really should had known he would have been met by objections from Dumbledore, Lily, Molly, James and pretty much anyone who had grown fond of him.

“It’s too dangerous!”

“You’re too important!”

“You could get hurt!”

Harry rolled his eyes, “You all realize that there is no point in summoning me to end your war if you won’t let me fight, right?” There was silence that greeted him, which he was grateful for, “Thank you, now if you don’t mind, there are people desperately waiting for us.”

“But-”

“No buts,” Harry interrupted, “This is my war now too, and I will fight...besides, all those people were my friends in my world, I’d rather not stand aside and let them die.”

Dumbledore stared at Harry for a moment. The Order held its breath as he finally nodded, “Very well Harry, I just hope you are prepared for what’s in store.”

Harry nodded, “More than you realize.”

 

* * *

 

 

Hogsmead was definitely not the same place that Harry remembered, but he should have expected that, after all, the wizarding world was run by Voldemort.

“Sirius, Remus, Charlie, go help Cedric and Cho!” James shouted the moment they arrived at Hogsmead, wasting no time in taking charge, “Lily, you and Bill need to help Seamus and Dean evacuate the town!”

Harry watched as the two groups ran off, no questions asked. He supposed that so many years of defending Deatheater and Dementor attacks made them well rehearsed in what to do, “What do you want me to do?”

James looked at Harry before taking off in the opposite direction that the rest had run off to. Harry chased after him, trying his best to keep up, “We’re helping Oliver defended civilians. And if he’s alone right now, he could already be gone.”

It was bleak to hear his father talk about his old Quidditch captain, but he said nothing. Harry could feel his heart pounding in his chest and couldn’t help but feel excited at the prospect of a fight. He hadn’t been this full of adrenaline since his last conversation with Voldemort. But Harry didn’t have time to reminisce. He needed all he could just to run after James as they saw Oliver defending the entrance of the Three Broomsticks. A shiver ran down Harry’s spine as the Dementors presence began to take effect. No matter how many times Harry dealt with Dementors, or how many he dealt with at one time, the feeling was still as sobering as ever.

“James!” Oliver called out, “ ‘bout time you showed up!” The young Scotsman cast a patronus at an oncoming Dementor that was tormenting a small family. The wolf that sprung from Oliver’s wand was able to push the Dementor back a ways, but it wasn’t long before the patronus dissipated.

“I need help!” Oliver shouted. James rushed to Oliver’s aid, casting his own patronus. The two began to push the Dementors back away from the Three Broomsticks. Harry couldn’t help but notice that it took both men several attempts at their patronus to even push them far enough back for the civilians to get out of the building and start running down the street.

 _‘They can’t find happy enough memories…’_ Harry realized. It seemed almost obvious to him that years for being a rebel couldn’t possibly bring too many happy memories.

“Harry!” Harry jolted out of his train of thought as James yelled at him, “Don’t just stand there! Help!” James and Oliver ran past him, escorting the civilians as they ran to Seamus and Dean, staying behind the group to protect them from any Dementors that may try and follow them. “Harry, are you listening to me?!”

As James looked back at Harry, Harry could see the Dementors moving to block their paths. They were running straight to them.

Harry’s pulse beat loudly in his head as he ran after James and Oliver. “Watch out!”

A woman’s scream ripped through the night. Harry felt his blood run cold as the Dementors closed in around them, and he could feel the haunting memories creep into his mind, including his mother’s last word…

_“HARRY!”_

Harry’s heart stopped, ‘ _Not again…’_ he thought. This was not the time to hear his mother’s voice, especially since she was alive in this world.

_Alive…his parents were alive…_

Harry raised his wand, opening his mouth.

 

* * *

 

 

_“EXPECTO PATRONUM!”_

James’ one eye widened as Harry shouted at the top of his lungs, only to cover his good eye with his arm as white light erupted from Harry’s wand. It was only when the patronus had passed that James was able to see that the Dementors were being torn apart by…

 _‘No…is that…’_ James lowered his wand as he watched the blinding white stag barrel down Hogsmead, attacking and chasing off any Dementor it came in contact with. “…His patronus is Prongs?” He asked quietly.

“Yeah, It is.” Harry replied. James almost jumped out of his skin, he had been so focused on the patronus that he hadn’t heard his son come up behind him.

“Oi, and who might you be?” Oliver asked, trying to catch his breath.

Harry cleared his throat, “I’m…well I’m er…”

“This is Harry, Oliver.” James interrupted, “My son.” Even though he had one eye, James could see Harry’s face brighten at the mention of James considering him his son.

Oliver raised an eyebrow, “Didn’t realize you had a son, James.” He said evenly.

Harry chuckled, “I’ve been kept out of the war until recently. For protection’s sake.”

If Oliver thought Harry was lying, he didn’t say so. “We better hurry and see if the others are alright.” James said, already making his way to the other side of Hogsmead, only to find that Harry’s patronus had done a better job than the rest of them combined.

“James!” James turned to see Lily rushing toward him, “You’re alright!”

He couldn’t help but chuckled, “Of course I am Lily, are you going to assume that I’m not every time we go on a mission?”

“Of course she is.” Sirius laughed as the last of the civilians ran to safety, “I’ve got to hand it to you James, I didn’t think your patronus was that aggressive.”

James shook his head, “It wasn’t mine…Harry cast the patronus.”

“Harry did?” Remus looked over at Harry. The Order members that knew Harry already understood now just how powerful Harry was when he needed to be.

“Will someone explain to me who Harry is?” James looked over at Cedric, only to notice that Harry was staring intently at the young man as well.

 _“That was the first time I saw someone die_ … _Luckily, I was able to escape with Cedric’s body.”_

 _Oh_. James realized that Cedric Diggory was in fact the first murder Harry had witnessed…It must be like seeing a ghost…

“James, are you listening to me?” Lily huffed. James chuckled slightly at his wife’s chastising.

Bill shook his head, “Cedric, this is Harry. He’s new to the Order…”

“Funny, James said Harry was his son…” Oliver commented, making sure that Dean and Seamus were uninjured.

Lily looked at James, before looking back at Cedric, “Harry is our son Oliver, don’t you see the family resemblance?”

Cedric was more skeptical than Oliver, “You’ve never mentioned having a son before…”

“That was for his own protection.” James replied, “He lived with Lily’s sister until he was of age…we didn’t want him growing up in this war…”

There was a tense moment that Cedric stared at Harry intently, as if looking for any reason to doubt him. James was glad when Cedric extended a hand to Harry, “Welcome Harry…”

Harry and Cedric had barely started shaking hands when an all too familiar cackle was heard. James’s heart dropped into his stomach everyone turned to face the sound.

“You rebels are so cute with your white magic and meaningless sacrifice.” Cooed none other than the Black Mamba herself, but it wasn’t her presence nor the way she mocked them as she sauntered towards them that made them grip their wands in anger.

It was seeing her wand pressed against Cho Chang’s neck. The look of terror on Cho’s face was enough to curdle anyone’s blood.

“Cho!” James heard Cedric shout in distress.

This only made the Black Mamba giggle sadistically, “Listen to that. Do you _love_ her?” At Cedric’s pained expression, she cooed happily, “He does, how adorably sickening.” Her voice suddenly took a serious tone, “Drop your wands. All of you.”

James grit his teeth in anger, but dropped his wand. Slowly, everyone else did as well…except Harry. James could see anger and hatred in Harry’s eyes, it was quite unnerving to see on such a young man.

“Don’t think I haven’t forgotten about you boy.” A twisted smile spread across the Black Mamba’s face, “ _Expelliarmus!”_ James could only watch as Harry’s wand flew from his hand and into hers.

With both wands in her hand, Bellatrix, the damned Black Mamba, shoved Cho to the ground in front of her. But Cedric couldn’t move two steps to her before the Deatheater pointed her wand at the trembling girl.

“Now,” She cackled, “To think you rebels would go through all the trouble of using such powerful magic, only to reveal your plans to us so soon?”

James grit his teeth as the Black Mamba leered at everyone, making sure to keep her wand close to Cho. Her eyes stopped on Harry, and James had to stifle a gasp.

 _She would know about Harry_ …

“So you must be the one that resulted from the ‘dark magic’.” She cooed at Harry, who was glaring back at her. “To think that such power is wasted.”

“Who says anything has been wasted?” Harry snarled. James could see the dark look in Harry’s eyes, and was glad Harry was not his enemy.

“You’ve been created by the wrong side.” She laughed at Harry, “You have power to be sure, but you’re on the side that is too weak to use it!”

James cast another glance at Harry, only to see that the darkness in Harry’s eyes had faded. In fact, Harry wasn’t even looking at her face. Instead, he seemed more focused on…

“You lot are helpless in the face of true power.”  A manic look flickered across the Black Mamba’s face as she looked back at Cho, “Just like now. _Cru-”_

 _“SECTUMSEMPRA!”_ The rage behind Harry’s voice was earth moving, but James had never heard or seen a spell like the one he was witnessing. Bellatrix’s body looked like she was being attacked by a flurry of razor sharp daggers, blood bursting from her body. As the Black Mamba’s bloody body fell backwards into the dirt, there was no doubt in James’ mind that Harry had just preformed incredibly dark magic.

And it scared James.

But Harry wasn’t done with her, he rushed past Cho, who was already in Cedric’s arms by now, and crouched over the bloody Deatheater, searching her body for something... James moved to catch up with Harry as the young man pried his wand from Bellatrix’ hand. There was something else clutched in his other hand, but James couldn’t see it properly.

“Don’t tell me what true power is, bitch.” Harry said darkly, gripping his wand tightly.

It was then that James then saw that the Black Mamba was still very much alive, as her wand hand started moving. “Harry, look ou-!”

“ _CONFRINGO!”_

Harry was blasted past the entire Order, his body hitting the side of a building before crumpling on the ground, in flames.

Lily and Remus rushed to put Harry out while the rest of them stood their ground as the Black Mamba stood, ready to strike again.

“I’ll _kill_ you.” She hissed, her eyes filled with malice, “I’LL KILL YOU A-” She stopped, crying out in pain. At first, James believed Harry had wounded her too much for her to continue, but at the sight of seeing her clutch her left arm, he knew what was happening.

The King had summoned her.

“Just you wait…you’ll all get yours…” With one last glare, she _Disapparated_ , probably to her master’s side at Castle Slytherin. James stood in shock at what happened, not sure to be grateful or terrified.

 _“James!_ ” Lily screamed, causing James to turn his attention to Harry, brave but reckless Harry.

“We need to get out of here now!” Sirius called, pulling out their Portkey. Even the Hogsmead members grabbed hold of the Portkey, just as shaken with the events of the past few minutes as James was.

 

* * *

 

 

“Well…that was interesting, wasn’t it?” Despite having his Dementors destroyed and his right hand lady defeated, the Serpent King had a twisted smile on his face. Beside him, his Prince stood watching alongside the king from their perch on one of the Hogsmead buildings.

“They are reckless.” Draco chuckled, watching as the rebels disappeared, “They show their hand too quickly, now we know all the cards.”

Voldemort chuckled, taking a sip of wine from his beloved cup, “Yes, about that…what do you think of their creation? Is it a man or a monster?”

“Most definitely a _man,”_ Draco’s eyes gleamed as his lips pulled into a smirk, “Most likely crafted with the blood of one of their own.”

Voldemort nodded, smirking, “If my eyes are not deceiving me, then I would suggest that he was created using James Potter’s blood, if not his flesh as well.”

“Human sacrifice, how out of character for the rebels, they must be desperate,” The Prince grinned, “Have you heard of men being created by magic?”

“I will admit, I’ve never had the need to use such a spell.” The King admitted, “But it does not seem beyond the realm of possibility…especially if the rebels have managed it.”

“Of course, if those scum can do it, then I suppose anyone can.” The Taipan sneered, “But as much as I would hate to admit it, he seems to be very powerful. He alone has done what the rebels had not been able to do. He’s shown great strength in white, as well as black, magic.”

“The fact he was crafted using black magic is all the more opportunity for us to have him join us. The rebels will not be able to control him for long.”

Draco watched as the rebels extinguished their crafted man with interest, “I want him.”

“We will have him with time Draco, he just needs temptation.” The King reassured him.

“No, I _want_ him.” Draco repeated, “I want to see him up close, I want to play with him.”

Voldemort smirked at his heir, holding his wine cup out to the young man, “You always did end up breaking your toys Draco.”

“You make that sound like a bad thing, my King.” The Taipan smirked before taking a drink from the King’s cup.

 

* * *

 

 

“Harry, didn’t we tell you that you would get hurt?” Lily shouted frantically. It didn’t matter if he was her son or not, she hated seeing anyone hurt for reckless actions. She had nearly had a fit when James had returned with a missing eye.

Harry winced as Molly treated his burns with what salve they had, “It was worth it.”

“How was it worth it? What could have possibly made you almost getting blasted to bits worth it?” Lily scolded, tearing off burnt cloths from Harry’s body while James came with fresh bandages. The rest of the Order stood watching, hoping that Harry wouldn’t die.

Harry only smiled, holding his hand over Lily’s. Lily looked at Harry curiously, but allowed him to drop what was in his clenched fist into her palm.

“What is this?” She murmured as she turned the heavy locket over in her hand, only to stare at the green, serpentine ‘ _S’_ on the front.

Harry grinned, “Guess what the ‘ _S_ ’ stands for.”


	9. Chapter 9

“Are you sure this will work Hermione?” Ron grumbled, watching his girlfriend turn Harry’s study into an Ancient Runes project.

Hermione looked over at Ron before rearranging the stones she had set up on the floor, “Of course it’ll work Ron. It’s a very simple locating spell. One of the first we learned in Ancient Runes class.

“I didn’t take Ancient Runes Hermione.” Ron commented.

“Neither did I.” Neville muttered, watching Hermione form a circle around Harry’s mirror using stones with runes carved into them. The circle was fairly widespread, taking up much of the floor of the study, and Hermione had used chalk to connect various runes and add more of her own. Although the fact Hermione kept looking at a text book while she worked was a bit unnerving…

“Don’t you know the spell well enough to not use a book?” Ron complained, trying to pry Teddy’s hands from his hair. The tiny boy clung fast to Ron’s head, squealing as he tangled his fists in the mass of red hair.

Hermione shook her Head, “I haven’t taken Ancient Runes since third year Ron, forgive me if I’m a bit fuzzy. What do you boys remember from third year?”

Neville shrugged, “Nothing specific…” He murmured. He had learned a lot in the past seven years, and it was hard to remember in which year he learned what.

Ron smiled, wrestling with Teddy’s hands, “That’s the year we met Remus.”

Neville could see the warm smile shared between Ron and his girlfriend, and couldn’t help but be confused. Yes, Lupin had been a wonder Defense against the Dark Arts professor, second only to Harry in Neville’s mind, but to Ron and Hermione, there was a deeper meaning.

Maybe it was the fact that Ron was holding Lupin’s son…Neville had always wondered why Harry had been named Teddy’s godfather.

“Anyway…” Hermione turned back to her work, “I’m using the book so I get all the details correct.”

“Hermione, when have you ever gotten details _incorrect_?” Ron laughed. This only made Hermione smile softly, blushing.

Neville rolled his eyes, “I thought you two were dating already, do you need to flirt still?”

“Neville!” Hermione Blushed brightly, “We’re not flirting…”

“You are.” Neville chuckled, watching his friends.

Ron smiled brightly, “Don’t mind him, Hermione, he’s just jealous.” Ron gave a triumphant laugh as he managed to free Teddy’s hands from his hair, “Don’t worry Neville, you’ll understand when you get your own girl.”

The idea of Ron offering Neville dating advice was humorous to say the least, considering his disastrous relationship with Lavender and taking so long to finally start dating Hermione. So Neville’s laughter was not completely uncalled for and Hermione’s laughter only added insult to Ron’s injury.

Ron grumbled, “Just finish the rune, Hermione.”

 

* * *

 

 

 _‘Why is this so hard?’_ Draco Malfoy thought to himself as he stood on the stoop of number 12 Grimmauld Place, debating to himself on whether to enter the house or not.

When he had gotten over the shock of Harry’s disappearance, Draco had obsessed over his last conversation with Harry, trying to find some clue as to where he might have vanished to. Then Draco remembered what Harry had said when Draco had asked if he was enjoying his life.

_“Not as much as I had hoped.”_

_Not as much as he had hoped?_ _Was Harry unhappy? Was he just bored?_ Regardless of the reason, Draco knew he should tell Harry’s friends, in case they would know where Harry would go for an adventure.

Harry…when had he stop calling him ‘Potter’ or ‘Scar Head’?

 _Probably when he saved your life from the Fiendfyre…_ Draco mused, _…I probably started calling him Harry when he saved Mother and I…_

When Draco had first gone to the Aurors to tell them what he knew, he wasn’t surprised to find that Weasley and Longbottom were the Aurors on the case. Of course Weasley would insist on taking his friends case, he would be the most motivated to locate Harry, and Longbottom would do whatever his partner wanted. Through his own way of spying, he had learned that the two were investigating Harry’s house, number 12 Grimmauld Place. A house that only the few under the _Fidelius_ could get into.

Lucky Draco. He really should thank Harry for inviting him to his house when Harry taught him wandless magic.

Draco sighed, resting his hand on the doorknob. It was odd coming to this house the first time, when Harry had offered to teach him wandless magic, seeing as this house could have easily had been his… Even now, Draco hesitated to enter the old house, slightly nervous due to the fact that Harry wouldn’t be waiting there for him…

With a deep breath, Draco opened the door. He was relieved with no wards or alarms went off, which was good. He would hate to be taken in as a suspect in his savior’s disappearance.

Had he just called Harry his savior? Draco shook his head, vowing never to admit such a thing out loud as he looked around the house. While Harry was a slob when it came to his personal space, Draco had to admit Harry could keep a public space…livable, especially seeing as he tried to limit the amount of work his house elf did.

Weasley and Longbottom were upstairs; Draco could hear their voices from where he was standing. Had they found something? There was only one way to find out… Slowly, Draco made his way up the stairs, past an oddly quiet portrait of Walburga Black, and onto the second story landing, where it sounded like the voices were coming from the study.

‘ _Odd_ , _Harry rarely goes in the study…’_ Draco ignored how odd it was for him to remember such specific information about Harry, instead he started walking towards the noises.

He could hear laughter, which wasn’t odd in the slightest. Gryffindors in general were nothing if not happy, Draco noticed, they always found something to be happy about…maybe there was a reason they became such forces to be reckoned with…

“Just finish the rune Hermione.” He could hear Weasley say. Ah, so that meant that Granger was there as well.

 _Rune…why would Granger be doing runes in Harry’s study?_ Before he could stop himself, Draco pushed open the door to the study.

Longbottom was sitting at the desk, watching with an amused look on his round face while Granger was on the floor, creating what appeared to be a rune centered around…was that a pocket watch? No, a mirror, the rune was around a mirror, and Granger was working on it with chalk and rune stones. Weasley appeared to be holding a baby as he laughed and chatted with his girlfriend and partner.

It didn’t take long before Longbottom noticed Draco’s presence, and when he finally did, the reaction was amusing to say the least.

“M-Malfoy!” And here Draco thought Longbottom was over that stutter. Perhaps he had simply been caught off guard.

Weasley on the other hand, didn’t seem to be any different, “What are you doing in here Malfoy? How did you get in here?”

Draco sighed, “Obviously Weasley, if I managed to get in here, then Harry trusted me enough to invite me into his home.”

Weasley turned red in the ears as Longbottom muttered, “He does have a point…”

But Draco wasn’t listening to the two partners and the baby chatter. He was staring at Granger, more importantly at the rune she was using, he recognized that rune…

“Are you trying to find something Granger?” He asked, walking closer to the chalk circle, much to Weasley’s dismay.

“Oi! You-”

“Relax Ron,” Granger shook her head at her boyfriend, “Yes Draco, we are.” She looked back at the Ancient Runes text she was referencing, “This mirror is part of a set. Harry has the other one on him, so we should be able to find Harry with this locating spell…”

Draco nodded, watching Granger work. She hadn’t missed any details, even in the chalk, she had made sure each line was bold enough to channel the magic needed. There was something about the spell through…

“You’re using the wrong spell…” Draco stated.

Weasley turned red, “What the hel-”

“Ron! Don’t swear in front of the baby!” Longbottom shushed his partner, who looked ready to strangle Draco.

Granger looked at her work, “What do you mean? This is the locating spell, straight out of the book…”

“True, this is a locating spell. But this spell was designed to bring items to the caster, not find living beings,” Draco pointed to the runes Granger had arranged, “Note how the runes say ‘something’ not ‘someone’  there and ‘bring to me’ instead of ‘find for me’ here?” Draco knelt by Grangers book, flipping through several pages of the book, “Here’s the spell you want.”

Weasley looked indignant, “Now stop right there, Malfoy. Hermione is always-”

“He’s right Ron.”

Draco stifled a smile at Weasley and Longbottom’s expressions at Hermione’s admission.

“What do you mean, Hermione?” Weasley asked. Draco was surprised that a three word sentence needed further explanation, but it was Weasley…

Granger was reading the spell that Draco had pointed out for her, “This rune is more specific to what we need. But…” Draco raised an eyebrow as her sentence trailed off.

“But what?” Longbottom asked, standing up.

Granger shook her head, “Draco…it says here that this spell needs blood to work properly…” She looked uneasy, “Could it be possible to use animal blood?”

Draco paused, thinking to himself, “…I suppose you could…”

She sighed, “Thank goodness.” Granger looked at Longbottom, “Neville, I think Harry had some beef in the kitchen, could you get it for me?”

Longbottom nodded, heading back downstairs to fetch the raw meat. Only after Longbottom left did a foul odor fill the air, causing Draco to sniff in disgust, wrinkling his nose. Surely Longbottom didn’t…

“Ron, I think Teddy needs to be changed.” Granger said lightly. It was then Draco remembered the baby in Weasley’s arms. Yes, that did make much more sense… even if the smell was just as foul.

Weasley grimaced, “Yeah, you’re right…c’mon Teddy. Let’s get you out of that disgusting nappy…” The redhead trailed off as he too walked downstairs, leaving Draco alone with Granger.

The silence held a certain awkward element to it as the two stared at each other. Finally, Granger turned back to her work, turning the runes from saying ‘something’ into ‘someone’. She reached out to erase the ‘bring to me’-

“OH SWEET MERLIN! WHAT IN MERLIN’S NAME IS THAT, TEDDY? HERMIONE! HELP!”

Both Granger and Draco jumped at Weasley’s shouting. The muggleborn witch quickly stood, dusting chalk off her hands, “What is it with men and changing diapers?” She muttered as she too left the room, leaving Draco by himself.

With the spell that could find Harry.

Or bring Harry to them.

Or bring _him_ to Harry.

Draco wasn’t a Slytherin for nothing, he knew an opportunity when he saw it. Before Hermione had even made her way to the stairs, Draco was changing ‘bring to me’ to ‘bring me to’. It wasn’t that hard, just rearranging some stones, redrawing some lines, erasing some old ones. He was suddenly glad he had taken more than one year of Ancient Runes. He certainly didn’t have time to look up in the book on every little detail. Runes work was about the right wording…

Soon Draco stood in the center of a new spell, one that could bring him to Harry. If Harry was off having an adventure, Draco wanted to be with him. He didn’t want to stay here in the mundane world of people pointing and staring, of whispers and silent accusations. He wanted to have an adventure like Harry always had. He wanted to be with the one person would stood up for him. He wanted to be with Harry.

Taking a deep breath, Draco removed one of the gloves from his hands. He knew far too well that this spell could never take animal blood, especially long dead, long cold blood. No, this spell needed fresh, hot human blood. For a human spell, human blood was needed and Draco would give it. The blonde looked at his hand before biting it. Hard. It took a few gnawing bites before Draco finally tore the skin of his hand, pooling his precious blood in his hand.

“Draco!” The blonde looked up to see Granger and Weasley in the doorway with the baby, and he could hear Longbottom on his way up the stairs to investigate Granger’s shouts. “What are you doing?”

 _Going to Harry,_ Draco mused, tipping his hand to pour the blood on the spell.

The three adults rushed the room, trying to stop Draco, “NO!”

_Plip ,plip, plip_

 

* * *

 

 

“Harry, you had better explain yourself!” Lily Potter was more than a little upset, Harry could tell. And to be honest, he didn’t exactly blame her.

Dumbledore stood by Harry’s bed, “I’m afraid I agree with Lily, Harry. While we understand you have your secrets, we would like for you to better inform us on what exactly we’ve brought upon us in bringing you here.”

Harry sighed, nursing his burnt shoulder. “You’re right. Even with my life story, I didn’t tell you a lot about me…”

Cedric looked around, “Wait, so you’re not James’ son?”

James sighed, “He is, but…it’s a really long story Cedric. I’ll explain later.”

“But Harry’s going to explain what happened right now.” Sirius nodded, watching Harry. Harry suddenly felt like a child who had done a very naughty thing.

 _Well, I suppose doing a dark spell is a naughty thing to do…_ Harry mused. “What do you want to know?” He asked.

“Everything.” Sirius said.

Harry shook his head, “More specific.”

James looked at him, “Your patronus…why is it…?” Lily and the other two Marauders nodded softly, understanding what James was asking ‘ _Why is it Prongs?’_

“Yeah, I haven’t ever seen a patronus that strong before.” Oliver asked, which diverted the Order’s attention from the shape of the patronus to the sheer power of it.

Harry sighed, “When I was 13, Dementors were common around Hogwarts.” He could see Angelina open her mouth to ask a question, but Dumbledore raised a hand to stop her, “And Dementors have always affected me…strongly.”

“How so?” Charlie asked, curious.

“They make me relive the night that my parents were killed.”

Cedric shook his head, “But-”

“Let him finish Mr. Diggory.” Dumbledore interrupted evenly, “I will explain to you what has happened since our last meeting.”

Harry nodded in thanks to Dumbledore, “So one of my professors took me aside and taught me the patronus charm. I’ve always just had a habit of being good at them, especially when the ones I love are in danger.” Harry had decided to omit the occasion he had simply cast a patronus to showboat for his O.W.L.s for the sake of making sense.

Dumbledore nodded, seeming to except this as a legitimate explanation.

“But what about the Black Mamba?” Cho whispered, burying herself in Cedric’s arms. Harry sighed, ignoring how awkward it was to see her again.

“She’s evil?” Harry replied drily, though he knew that wasn’t the response they were looking for.

“She took your wand Harry!” Remus raised his voice, “Where did you learn wandless magic like that?”

At this Harry groaned, knowing that there was no reasonable answer for this, “To be honest, after the war-” Here, Oliver tried to chime in with a question, but was stopped by Dumbledore, “After the war…I was bored…”

“You were…bored?” Lily asked, raising an eyebrow. Harry winced, having only seen that look from Mrs. Weasley before.

Harry shrunk back into his bed, “Yeah, I was bored. I wanted a challenge, so I taught myself wandless magic.”

There was a good minute or so that no one said anything, they just stared at Harry. Except Dumbledore, he just sat with his eyes twinkling as usual.

Bill sighed, “Alright then, but please tell me that you weren’t ‘bored’ enough to learn dark magic…” He sent Harry a very warning glare.

In that moment, Harry wanted nothing more than to have his Invisibility Cloak back, “No… that one I learned when I was 16… It was in a book and all that was written next to it was ‘for enemies’. I was horrified when I first cast it and saw what it did. I had sworn I would never use that spell again…but when I saw Bellatrix, I just saw red…”

“Don’t we all?” Sirius rolled his eyes.

Cedric picked up the locket, “What I don’t understand is why this locket was so important? Do you have a habit of collecting trophies from your opponents?”

Harry decided to ignore how ironic Cedric’s statement was, “No…the ‘S’ on the locket stands for Slytherin.” There was a collective gasp throughout the room, except for James, Lily and Dumbledore. James and Lily already knew the gist of what was happening and Dumbledore…he just seemed unaffected by anything. “And yes, it is a Horcrux. That was part of the reason I decided to attack Bellatrix.”

“What was the other part?” James asked, curious.

“Well besides the obvious fact that she was going to ‘ _Crucio’_ Cho, I really hate that woman…” Harry grit his teeth, “I didn’t get the pleasure of killing her in my world and-”

“Will someone PLEASE explain what in Merlin’s name is going on, NOW?” Cedric growled in frustration. Oliver and the rest of the Hogsmead Order nodded in a confused agreement.

Harry sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Here’s the short version: I’m from a parallel reality where I’ve already defeated Voldemort or the Serpent King, you guys summoned me with a dark spell and I’m here to save the day…again.”

Cedric looked like Harry had said ‘ _I kissed your girlfriend just months after you were murdered’_ and Harry made note to never mention that fact to Cedric. He and Cho looked happy together.

“You’re…what now?” Angelina asked, stunned. She looked to Dumbledore, “Sir, is he serious?”

Harry resisted the urge to point at Sirius and say _‘no, he is’_ as Dumbledore nodded, “While I wish Harry here had not been so blunt, he does in fact speak the truth.” Dumbledore sighed, “Harry here is in fact the Savior that was brought to us from the tome Nymphadora stole for us.”

Cedric was taken aback, “Dora’s mission, it was for a spell?”

The old man nodded, “Yes Mr. Diggory, a spell that has brought Harry to us. Harry is already making progress in defeating the Serpent King. You see, the King is-”

A shockwave rippled through the room, causing Harry to shudder. He wasn’t sure what had just happened, but he didn’t think it was exactly a good thing.

Frantic footsteps raced to the door and Percy Weasley threw open the door, “Dumbledore sir, someone’s gotten through the wards!”

The Order jolted upright in attention, even Harry, as Dumbledore asked further, “Is anyone hurt?”

“No sign of Frank, Fred and George are down and I can’t find Ron anywhere!” Percy said frantically. Bill and Charlie gripped their wands at the mention of someone hurting their little brothers.

Moody took charge, “Alright then. If it’s a fight they want, we’ll show those intruders what the Order of the Phoenix is about!”

* * *

 

The throne room of Castle Slytherin was eerily silent, as none of its usual inhabitants were present. It was well into the night and those who resided in the castle had long since retired to their own beds.

Well, with the exception of one.

‘ _I must commend the rebels.’_ Draco Malfoy, the Taipan, the Serpent Prince, thought to himself as he lounged in the King’s throne. By the side of the throne, there stood a pedestal holding the pensive of the Serpent King. Not that it held any memories of the King himself, no; those memories were kept safe in his majesty’s mind. This pensive was for the viewing pleasure of the King, memories from every attack, every torture and every kill made by the King’s followers. _‘They have outdone themselves with this masterpiece.’_

The Prince sat watching the memory the attack they had made that night, more specifically, the rebels’ secret weapon.

The look on the rebels’ faces as their prized weapon unleashed such a strong attack of dark magic made a smile tempt to cross the Taipan’s face. It was a shame through, that the Prince couldn’t see the rebels’ real faces. It had been years since any of the Kings followers had seen their enemies face, the rebels had taken to obscuring their identities with a bastardized version of the _Fidelius_ charm. Now only those who had set foot in the rebel headquarters could see their real faces and hear their real names. To those loyal to the King, the Taipan included, the rebels looked like complete strangers and referred to themselves using gibberish names like “Prodigal” and “Mirage”. It was annoying at best, infuriating at worst.

But their weapon was not under the _Fidelius_ , that much was certain. His features were too striking, too…perfect. _‘What fools,’_ Thought the Prince, _‘To waste such power.’_

The King had told him that their weapon looked like a known rebel by the name of James Potter, and since the Taipan had no idea what James Potter looked like, he would have to resort to the memories of James Potter before he underwent the _Fidelius._ How ironic that James Potter’s last known appearance was at the Embassy, where he had his eye plucked out by Lucius Malfoy.

The memory was thrilling to watch and the Prince had to applaud his father, the marksmanship was perfect. He could understand why his father kept the hazel eye in a jar in his private quarters. Such a trophy deserved respect, even the Taipan knew that.

But more importantly, he was able to see the man the King was referring to as the weapons model. At first glance, the weapon-man did look like he had been fashioned out of James Potter’s corpse, but on closer inspection, the Prince noticed that the man he was watching was far more perfect than James Potter could have achieved in life. For one thing, James Potter was aging, graying, wrinkling, decaying; while the weapon- no, the _man_ the Taipan watched was young, his hair black as ebony and untamed- perfect for pulling. His body was also lean and fair- he probably bruised easily- but there was still an element of masculinity to him, if the way he had cursed Bellatrix was anything to go by.

 _‘And those_ eyes’ The Taipan stared at the dark expression of the rebels’ prized man. ‘ _Eyes that have held witness to darkness, eyes that are as green as the killing curse itself.’_ He smiled to himself. Eyes the color of _Aveda Kedavra,_ how could those rebels not have noticed the dark beauty of the man? The man with _Aveda_ green eyes…

 _‘He’s so complex…_ ’ The Prince watched over and over again as his obsession shouted the dark curse _‘SECTUMSEMPRA!’_

_‘SECTUMSEMPRA!’_

_‘Sectumsempra…’_

“Sectumsempra.” The Prince murmured to himself, “Sectumsempra… SecT-um Sempra…Sec-Tem-Sem-Pra…” The word tingled on his lips and tongue, especially when his lips popped at the enunciation of ‘-Pra’. If it felt this good to say, how pleasurable would the curse be to cast? When he got his hands on the perfect man, the Prince would have him teach him the curse…as well as other things….

“Not getting too comfortable are you?” A cold voice interrupted the Prince from his thoughts. The blonde man turned to face his King, looking down at him with unreadable expression.

The Prince blinked, “My King, I was just-”

“Getting comfortable in my throne.”

Pale grey eyes widened as the Taipan all but threw himself off the throne and knelt before the King, “I would never question your reign, my King.”

Voldemort ignored the gesture, instead moving to sit on his throne. The Prince waited until his king was seated before getting off his knees, moving to the King’s right hand.

“He’s even better up close, is he?” Voldemort chuckled darkly, watching the dark haired rebel in the pensive.

The Prince grinned maniacally, “Like you wouldn’t believe. James Potter is nothing compared to this perfection.”

“Careful Draco.”  The King gave the Taipan a warning gaze, his red eyes narrowing, “Try to avoid complimenting the enemy too much. After all, they did go through such lengths to create your eye candy.”

The Taipan sneered at the suggestion, “Who said anything about complimenting the enemy? I was admiring the use of the Dark Arts, as you yourself are doing as well.”

If it had been any other follower, chances were that Voldemort would have _Cucio_ ’ed them within an inch of their lives for such an answer. But this was his Prince, the young man had learned much from him…even if he had a habit of using his forked tongue liberally.

Instead, the King settled more comfortably in his throne, “True enough…” He drawled, his attention drawn back to the man in the pensive. He was young, perhaps younger than his heir, and nearly flawless. Of course the King had noticed the scar that was etched onto the green eyed man’s forehead. It was obviously a mark from a dark spell…there was also some sort of mark on each of his hand, but there was no way to tell what they were for sure.

“He’s beautiful isn’t he?” Voldemort turned his attention to Draco, who was eyeing the man greedily, “The rage in his voice, the hatred in his eyes…it’s delightful…” The blonde nearly purred as he stared at the pensive. It was almost nauseating…

“When you’re quite done undressing the enemy with your eyes Draco, I’d like to discuss our next form of attack.” Voldemort watched his heir calmly, “What news of Bellatrix?”

The young blonde sighed, “She’s still being treated by Severus, and she’s out for blood of course.” He chuckled darkly, “But she doesn’t get to have him. He’s mine.”

The King smirked, taking a drink of wine from his cup, “Don’t you have other toys you can play with?”

“The servants are boring; they do what I say out of fear. And they aren’t perfect like he is.” The Taipan reasoned, “He’s powerful and I want hi-”

Before the Prince could continue, a ripple was felt throughout the castle. Not strong enough to cause any damage, but enough to cause the Prince to hitch in his breath. The familiar sensation of magic could be felt in the aftermath of the ripple.

“Well,” The King smirked as the rippling began to fade, “This makes things so much more interesting…”

The Taipan shivered in delight, “They made another one?”

Voldemort suppressed the urge to laugh at his heir’s action. He was acting like he was a virgin thinking his first dirty thought… The King could only wonder what the Prince had in store for the rebel weapon, “It would seem that way…” He took another drink of his wine, lazily watching the green eyed weapon in the pensive.

“I am curious to see who among the rebels gave their lives to give their weapon a body…” The Prince murmured, thinking of possibilities for the new weapon.

The King nodded, offering his wine cup once again to his heir, “As am I…”

The Taipan took the cup with gratitude, holding it in both his own hands as he drank. The King watched in twisted fascination as his heir’s alabaster throat contracted and moved as the young man drank, his Adams apple bobbing with a youthful vitality with each gulp.

_“As am I…”_

* * *

 

 _‘Ug…my head…’_ Ron Weasley groaned, holding his head with one hand and his eyes squeezed shut, _‘I’m gunna kill Malfoy…’_ Whatever the blonde had done, it had sure done a number on Ron’s head. The poor redhead felt like a herd of hippogriffs had stampeded on his forehead. With another groan, Ron opened his eyes.

Only to realize that it was just as dark with his eyes open as it was with his eyes closed. _‘That doesn’t make any sense…’_ Ron thought to himself as he sat up, _‘Harry’s study has plenty of windows and it was the middle of the day…’_ It didn’t make sense to Ron in the slightest. That was until he felt the cold stone beneath him _‘Harry’s study also has hardwood floors…not stone…’_ Ron decided that it would be best to find his wand so he could see better. After some blind fumbling, the redhead was able to grasp his wand.

“ _Lumos,”_ He muttered. The glow from Ron’s wand revealed that they were no longer in Harry’s study. The cold stone wasn’t just on the floors, but they reached up the walls and covered the staircase that led up from the dungeon they were in.

 _Dungeon…that’s what it was…_ On closer inspection, Ron could see Neville and Hermione close to where he was sitting, Hermione clinging to a very still Teddy, and Malfoy had somehow landed across the room. He knew that before any other exploration and investigation could be done, he needed to make sure that everyone was alright.

Quietly, Ron made his way to Hermione, more concerned with his girlfriend and the small baby than with the other two men. “Hermione…Hermione…” He gently nudged the young witch’s shoulder, hoping that she would be alright. Judging by the way her chest was rising and falling rhythmically, she didn’t seem to be in any critical danger. But he could never be sure…

Ron breathed a sigh of relief when Hermione stirred, her eyebrows furrowed, “Ron…” She muttered, “What is it…?”

“Hermione, you need to get up.” Ron said quietly, “I think we may be in a spot of trouble…”

The bushy haired woman sat up, squinting her eyes in the dark. Teddy had yet to wake up in her arms, but to Ron, he appeared to be sleeping peacefully. “Where are we Ronald?” Hermione asked, looking around the dungeon before reaching for her own wand.

Ron shook his head, “I have no idea Hermione…definitely not in Harry’s study anymore.” He muttered, “Do you want to wake up Neville or Malfoy?” He asked, helping Hermione to her feet.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “You take Neville…I’m going to give Malfoy a piece of my mind…” She murmured, walking over to where Malfoy’s body was laying.

With a chuckle, Ron turned his attention to his partner, taking Neville’s shoulders and giving them a good shake, “C’mon Neville, time to wake up.” He grumbled.

Neville was much more reluctant to wake up than Hermione was, merely rolling away from Ron when he started shaking his shoulders. Ron rolled his eyes, gripping his wand in his teeth, the redhead shook his partner harder until Neville woke up, “Stop shaking me Ron…” He grumbled.

Ron rolled his eyes again, taking his wand out of his mouth, “This isn’t the time for a nap, Neville.” He helped Neville stand on his own two feet, “Malfoy’s spell has somehow gotten us into some dungeon somewhere…” At the mention of Malfoy, Ron chuckled, “Hey Hermione, is the ferret awake yet?” He turned, expecting Hermione to be hexing Malfoy within an inch of his life.

Which made it all the stranger when he saw his girlfriend standing over the blonde’s body, her glowing wand limp at her side.

“…Hermione?” Ron asked, Neville at his side, “Are you alright?”

Hermione pointed down at Malfoy, “Look…” she whispered.

As Ron and Neville got closer, they could see that Malfoy was laying in the center of a dark stain on the floor, a stain that had several smears on it…

“It’s blood…” Hermione said quietly, “it’s dried blood…”

Ron could hear Neville take a step back. He didn’t blame his partner; the sight was unnerving at best. Beyond the dried blood, Ron could see black ink painting the cold stone, twisting in designs and runes that he didn’t even know existed and stretched nearly from wall to wall. “Is..is it his?” He asked quietly, looking back at Hermione.

Hermione shook her head, “I don’t think so, it looks too old to be his…” she muttered, although Ron wasn’t sure if it was to convince him or herself. She carefully shook Malfoy’s shoulder, “Draco…Draco?”

To Ron and Neville’s great relief, Malfoy began to move, a pale hand moving to his head, “Dear Merlin,” he said quietly, “Why must everyone be so loud?”

“Well it’s your own fault Malfoy.” Ron muttered, “Whatever you did in Harry’s study brought us here…wherever here is…”

Malfoy looked around, confused, “I don’t understand…this was-”

The blonde stopped when the adults heard the sound of footsteps above their heads. They weren’t alone in the building. Ron gripped his wand tightly.

“Hermione, keep watch of Teddy.” He told her quietly, “You and Malfoy take cover in the corner.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow, “Ron you know I can help.”

“Women and children need to be kept safe,” Neville replied, “So that applies to you and Teddy. Ron and I are the Aurors here, let us take care of you.”

“Then why am I hiding?” Malfoy asked, his eyebrow quirked.

“We all know you can’t use a wand. You’re pretty much useless.” Ron retorted, “Just hide in the corner; I can hear people coming…”

Indeed, voices could be heard from the other side of the door. “Boys, you shouldn’t be going down there! You don’t know how many intruders there are!” They could hear a man’s voice shouting.

A more youthful voice answered, “Then come with us!”

“We’re tired of sitting on the side lines!” Another echoed. There were three then, Ron noted, one man older than the other. He nodded to Neville, who moved to crouch behind the stairs while Ron knelt at the base of the stairs. Hermione had surprisingly done as Ron had asked, dragging Malfoy into the corner while Ron waited.

“Fine…but let me go first boys.” The older voice replied.

The door opened slowly, and a single male figure made his way down the stairs. Ron kept his wand lit, but even then, he couldn’t see the details of the man’s face. But he could definitely see the wand pointed directly at him. The light from Ron’s wand had exposed where he had been kneeling.

“Put the wand down!” The man said sternly, making his way down the stairs.

Ron shook his head, raising his wand slightly.

The man wasn’t going to let Ron cast a spell, “ _Expel-”_

 _“Stupefy!”_ Neville shouted from his hiding spot, stunning the man before he could disarm Ron. Ron quickly moved as the man crumpled on the stairs.

Before the man could even finish collapsing onto the staircase, the two younger men raced in, both of them looking frantic.

“ _Stupefy!”_

 _“Stupefy!”_ Both Ron and Neville were able to hit their attackers, watching them fall to the floor next to the first man.

Hermione rushed over, holding a waking Teddy in her arms, “That was…good work you two…” She admitted, trying to keep Teddy from crying too much, which seemed unlikely, if Teddy’s headache was as bad as the adults.

Ron beamed at Hermione’s complement, surging him into full Auror mindset. Malfoy stood back from Ron and Neville as they dragged the three men away from the stairs. Not that Ron cared, Malfoy could stay in the corner for all he cared, “What’s the status of Enemy One Neville?”

“Neville?” Ron looked over at Neville, who was supposed to be taking their enemy’s wand and checking to see if he had any other magical devices on him, “Neville, don’t just stand there…Neville?”

Neville was standing over the older man; hand over his mouth in horror. His wand had almost fallen from his shaky grip. Ron couldn’t see why Neville was so shook up about it… “Neville, pull yourself together.” Ron said evenly, hoping to sound calm for Neville.

“…It’s my dad…” Neville nearly whispered.

Hermione gasped, “What? Neville, are you sure?” Ron blinked, not sure if he had heard Neville correctly. Frank Longbottom wasn’t even capable of forming a complete sentence, let alone nearly attacking Ron…

Neville nodded, “I saw him just a few hours ago at St. Mungo’s Hermione. He looks different, but I know my dad…”

Ron didn’t want to tell Neville that it was impossible for this to be Frank, it was most likely an imposter, but he knew that he would most likely have to…

“Hey Weasley, you might want to look at the other two here.” Malfoy said in his even drawl, standing over the other two attackers.

Ron looked over at Malfoy.

And stared.

Both the young men had heads full of red hair: Weasley red hair. Ron dropped to his knees, trying to get a better look at both of them “This is impossible…” He whispered.

“George isn’t missing his ear…” Hermione noted.

“I was more amazed at the fact that Fred’s alive Hermione…” Ron whispered, then shook his head, “No, Fred’s not alive because this isn’t Fred anymore than this is George or that’s Frank.”

Neville tore himself away from the man who was impersonating his father, “You’re right Ron.” He took a deep breath, “We need to-”

“Fred?” A voice asked from the top of the stairs, causing the four adults in the dungeon to freeze, “George? Are you guys alright?”

This time it was Hermione who cast the stunner at the new enemy, almost giving a redundancy to the tumble down the stairs the new body made.

“Let’s see who this person’s trying to be…” Ron murmured, rolling the body over onto his back.

And almost swallowed his tongue.

“Ron?” Hermione asked, “Ron, who is it?”

Ron swallowed, “It’s me…” he said quietly. He could feel the others crowding in behind him to get a better look at his doppelganger. Ron couldn’t help but notice that there were differences between himself and the fake Ron; the stunned Ron had longer hair, not as well cared for, and his face was smudged with dirt.

“He looks like-”

“Malfoy, if you finish that sentence, I will make you wish that was your blood on the floor.” Ron muttered darkly, standing up. “Well…at least we know that this where Harry is…”

“Of course it is.” Ron looked at Malfoy. The blonde ignored the glare Ron gave him and continued, “The spell I cast was designed to bring us to Harry…”

“And we heard Harry on his mirror talking to you Ron…or rather this Ron…” Neville murmured.

Ron looked up the staircase, at the door, “So Harry’s up there…we’ve just got to get him.”

Hermione nodded, handing Teddy to Malfoy, “You stay down here with Teddy, Draco.”

The blonde looked at Teddy in confusion, “Why me?”

“Like Ron said; without your wand, you’re pretty much useless.”

 

* * *

 

 

At the word ‘intruder’, the entire Order sprang to attention. And with Moody in charge, there would be no mercy.

 _‘Of course’_ Sirius thought, _‘There will be no mercy even if Moody wasn’t in charge…after all, the Weasleys are involved here…’_

Most of the Order members were racing down the stairs to confront the intruders at Moody’s declaration. Dumbledore stayed behind, and James and Lily had their hands full keeping Harry in his bed.

“I can fight!” Harry protested.

“You’re hurt.” Lily said simply, “There are more than enough members to take care of the intruders.”

“We don’t know that Lily.” Sirius blurted before he could stop himself, “We have no idea how many intruders there are.”

Lily sent Sirius a dirty glare as Harry tried again to get out of his bed, “See? You guys summoned me here for a reason and-”

“We fell for that argument last time.” James pushed Harry back down onto his bed, “And you got lit on fire for your troubles.”

“So what?” Harry argued. Sirius honestly had trouble finding a good response to Harry’s question. “People get hurt all the time, this is a war! I can’t stop just because I have a little burn!”

“Little burn?” Lily asked in frustration, “Harry, you’re whole body was on fire and you collided with a stone building!”

“I’ve had worse.”

“I don’t care.” Lily crossed her arms, “You’re not getting out of that bed Harry.”

Sirius chuckled. For being one to have only recently been introduced to motherhood, Lily sure was taking it in stride…maybe it was all those years around Molly Weasley and her never-ending supply of children…

Sirius had long since tuned out the Potter’s argument, instead listening to the Order as they made their way downstairs. He could head Kingsley and Moody giving instructions to capture, not kill. Of course Moody always did have a loose definition of ‘capture’…to him, it was almost a synonym for ‘maim’.

The fight was starting downstairs; Sirius could hear it with his canine sensitive ears. The headquarters was most likely being torn to bits from the curses and hexes being thrown. Moody had obviously been itching for a duel…he almost pitied the intruders.

A particularly loud blast had caused not only Sirius, but also James, Lily and Harry to turn their attention downstairs. The Potters may not have noticed, but Sirius no longer heard Moody’s voice. _‘They got Moody?’_ He thought to himself, alarmed. _‘There are definitely more than we thought’_ “I’m going down there!” He called, turning to go.

“I am too!” Harry stated, forcing himself out of bed, “And don’t push me back into bed, you keep hurting my burns.” He muttered. “I’m 18 you know, you better let me act like it.”

Sirius resisted the urge to chuckle as James, having no idea how to respond to a grown son, let Harry climb out of bed and rush after Sirius.

“How bad is it?” Harry asked as they walked downstairs.

Sirius had his wand drawn, “I’m not sure, but Moody is down for sure. I can recognize that voice a mile away.” He stated, nearly leaping down the stairs. Harry was hot on his heels as they made to the first floor.

It was chaos to be certain. Curses were flying in every direction, Sirius had to duck to avoid a stray stunner. He could see Moody’s body in the corner, but was unsure if he was stunned or dead.

From what Sirius could see, there were only three of the enemy forces fighting, two men and a woman, but they were clearly three of the best. The shorter of the men was keeping Tonks and Remus at bay while he stunned Cedric and avoided being disarmed by Bill. His face was round and almost innocent looking, but clearly looks were deceiving…if Pettigrew had been any example to Sirius.

The woman on the other hand, reminded Sirius of his cousin Bellatrix…well at least her hair did. He couldn’t see much of her besides the back of her bushy head while she avoided being stunned by both Charlie and Percy and managed to disarm Kingsley. Sirius noted that whenever she seemed to be close to being stunned or disarmed, the second man would step in and defend her.

The second man… the second man was much taller than the other two, and a bit more gangly with red-

 _Oh no…Ron?_ Sirius felt his heart drop to his stomach as he watched Ron Weasley fight against his own parents. Had he betrayed them all? Was he the one who let the other two in? No… Sirius noted on closer inspection that the Ron before them was too well groomed, almost like.

_Like he had grown up in a castle, not a war._

In almost relief, Sirius realized that this Ron was an imposter from the Serpent King. But Molly and Arthur seemed reluctant to cast a spell on their youngest son, even if he wasn’t really their son.

Sirius was about to stun the imposter himself when Harry pushed past him, his hands raised. Sirius had to fight the urge to brace himself for the magic Harry was about to unleash…

“STOP!” The teen shouted loudly.

Stop? Sirius stared at Harry. Had he really just yelled for the fighting to stop? Who in their right mind would—

Sirius blinked as all three intruders stopped and stared at Harry, shocking the Order members just as much. Had Harry actually stunned them all with wandless, encoded magic? It didn’t make much sense to Sirius, but with Harry-

“Harry!” The female intruder cried gleefully, smiling brightly. Sirius looked at her, positive that she wasn’t an Order member or anyone that should have known about Harry…

To everyone’s surprise, Harry rushed to the intruders, giving the female a welcome embrace. “Hermione!” He laughed joyfully, “How did you find me?”

Sirius realized that with Harry, nothing could ever be simple.


	10. Chapter 10

Ron breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw Harry hug Hermione and the fighting had stopped. Leave it to Harry to get himself into the most bizarre situations.

‘ _Although…_ ’ Ron thought, gripping his wand tightly, looking around warily, _‘I must say that this is the strangest adventure I’ve seen with Harry to date…’_ He could tell that Neville was also uneasy about being surrounded by all the friends they had left at home, dead and alive. _‘But Harry doesn’t seem to be bothered by anything here…that is_ if _that is Harry…’_

The man that Hermione was clinging to sure looked enough like Harry: messy black hair, green eyes with the same glasses Harry always wore, still pale, still shorter than Ron himself and still had his trademark scar…

But there was something wrong with Harry, that much was obvious. Ron could see the burns on Harry’s body, which he would investigate to be sure, and Harry didn’t even bat an eyelash at the fact that he was standing mere feet from someone impersonating his godfather…

“Ron, are you going to stand there all day?” Harry chuckled, “You can relax here, you’re among friends.”

Ron didn’t loosen his grip on his wand, and he could see Neville hadn’t either.

“Harry, you do realize half of the people in this room are supposed to be dead, don’t you?” Neville asked quietly, shooting nervous looks around the room at the people.

Hermione had finally let go of Harry, who had repressed his pained expressions for her sake, and looked around as well, “Harry…what’s going on?”

“I could ask the same thing.”

Ron turned to find himself staring at the end of Bill’s wand, while Charlie and Percy raised their own wands as well. When Neville tried to raise his wand to help Ron, Charlie pointed his wand at Neville in warning.

Harry stepped forward, “Bill, Charlie, you can relax.  Ron isn’t-”

“That’s not our brother Harry,” Charlie said, his wand still pointed at Neville, “How can you all just forget that these three attacked Ron and the twins?”

“Frank’s still missing too…” Alice said quietly. Ron could see Neville twitch uncomfortably, but he said nothing.

“What did you do to the real Ron?” Percy asked, his eyebrows furrowed tightly over his glasses. It was definitely an expression that Ron had never seen on his brother before, at least not on Percy.

But Ron couldn’t think too much on Percy’s expression, he was far too confused, “What are you talking about? I am Ron! The imposter is in the dungeon!”

“Dungeon?” Bill jabbed his wand at Ron’s neck, “Are you telling me my brothers are in Castle Slytherin?”

“Castle _what?”_ Ron shook his head. Surely he heard wrong, had he just heard Bill say Castle _Slytherin?_

Bill grit his teeth, “Don’t play dumb!” he snarled.

Harry rushed forward, grabbing Bill’s wrist, “He’s not playing dumb, Bill!” Ron watched as Harry forced Bill’s arm down, “He really has no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Harry, we know we owe you a lot,” Charlie said evenly, “But this imposter even admitted that our brothers are in the dungeons!”

“Yeah, YOUR dungeons!” Ron shouted, confused and frustrated. This was getting too confusing for his taste “And they attacked us!”

“You’re the intruders! They were good men!” Bill argued.

“We didn’t intrude!” Hermione shouted back, “We don’t even know where we are!”

Percy turned on Hermione, “You sure had no problem attacking us!”

“You lot attacked us first!” Neville insisted.

“You’re the enemy here!” Charlie jabbed his wand at Neville’s neck.

Hermione shook her head, “We just came to find Harry!”

Harry cleared his throat, “If I could interrupt…”

Bill ignored Harry, “So you can bring him back to your master, no doubt!”

“Master? What in Merlin’s name are you talking about?” Ron was getting a headache from all the shouting. Of course the situation wasn’t helping in the slightest….

“Don’t pretend you don’t know!” Percy said coldly. Ron was starting to remember why Percy had a tendency of getting on his nerves…

“We don’t have to pretend!” Neville looked just as confused as Ron felt. It was almost like a horrible prank that everyone was playing on them. If it weren’t for the fact that Ron could clearly see Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody and Nymphadora Tonks, all of whom were clearly dead, he may have thought this was a prank.

“So who are really under your disguises?” Bill insisted.

Ron sighed. This was getting old, and he was hungry, “Look, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I really am-”

Both sides of the argument stopped when Teddy’s laughter could be heard from the dungeon below. The entire room turned to look at the open door that led downstairs.

“A baby?” The woman impersonating Ron’s mother asked.

Harry looked at Ron, “Teddy?”

Ron nodded, “Someone had to watch him while you were off with…whoever these people are.”

“You left my godson alone in the basement?” Harry asked, frowning “Whose bright idea was that?”

“He’s not alone Harry,” Neville tried to explain things to Harry, “Malfoy’s down there with him, he’s watching…well he’s watching Ron, Fred and George and-”

Neville’s sentence was lost when the rest of the room heard the word ‘Malfoy’. Bill and Charlie were racing to get down in the basement, the rest of the imposters were close behind them.

And Ron was still confused.

 

* * *

 

 

 _‘Please stop crying…’_ Draco thought desperately, looking down at the crying baby in his arms.  Teddy’s hair was an awkward shade of brown, almost making him look sickly, and his face was bright red and dripping with tears and mucus. “Oh for the love of Merlin... _Silencio._ ”

He probably should have felt bad about silencing the infant instead of comforting him, but what did he know about children? Draco had been an only child, the aunt that hadn’t been disowned had never had children, _thank Merlin,_ and no proper pure-blood family ever had more children than they absolutely needed to.

Except the Weasleys, but they had a category of their own.

Draco sighed and looked around, rocking Teddy in his arms. The basement was dark without the light from Weasley and Longbottom’s wands, the only light coming from the open door. Draco could still see that the four bodies on the floor were still stunned, so he wouldn’t have to worry about them waking up anytime soon. He had already collected their wands in case Weasley’s stunning abilities weren’t up to par.

 _‘Of course they would be up to par, he’s been by Harry’s side for years…’_ Draco mused, kicking aside the piles of wands as he looked at Teddy again. ‘ _Let’s see…Teddy is the grandson of my aunt, son of my cousin…does that make him my second cousin? No…first cousin, once removed…that sounds right….’_

To be honest, Draco was bored. He wanted to find Harry too, but Weasley and Granger had declared him ‘useless’ because he didn’t have a wand. Typical…but it would have been a well founded judgment…

If it hadn’t been for Harry.

‘ _It’s always about Harry isn’t it?’_ There was probably a time when Draco would have been resentful for the way attention gravitated towards Harry, when he would make some snide comment about ‘Saint Potter’ or ‘Scar head’ or perhaps insult Granger and Weasley. But that was in the past and his traumatic experience with the Deatheaters may or may not have played a part of Draco’s newly found humility…that and Harry saving his life.

Draco smirked as Teddy calmed down, only to grimace when the baby wiped his dripping nose on his shirt.

“Don’t push your luck, kid.” Draco grumbled. Teddy looked up at Draco, holding onto his shirt. Then the infant scrunched up his face and for a moment Draco feared he might have to change a diaper.

But then Teddy’s hair turned from the murky brown to Draco’s shade of light blonde. Draco chuckled, “You’re too young to be a brown-noser kid…but you have class, so I’ll let you have your voice back.”

Draco took the silencing charm off of the infant, who cooed cutely with his new hair. The blonde baby began to giggle loudly, bouncing in Draco’s arms. ‘ _Well what do you know?’_ Draco thought, ‘ _Maybe I’m better with kids than I thought…’_

The sound of arguing could be heard upstairs, but Draco didn’t care to listen in. Chances were that everything would be explained to him later, and there was no point in only hearing some information and making a rash decision based on it. It was when things got quiet that Draco started to get concerned.

“A baby?” Draco was sure that he heard Molly Weasley’s voice, which made little sense to him.

“Teddy?” Draco perked at the sound of Harry’s voice. Harry was here, which meant that Draco’s spell had worked! A smile tried to cross Draco’s face, but years of being trained to be a Malfoy had somewhat stunted his ability to stretch his lips that far.

Instead, he got an awkward toothy smirk, which made Teddy stop giggling. Draco quickly stopped trying to smile and reached up and touched his cheeks. He definitely needed to make sure he could smile before he tried to attempt to do so next time.

“Someone had to watch him while you were off with…whoever these people are.” Draco raised an eyebrow as Weasley spoke, absentmindedly bouncing Teddy in his arms.

“You left my godson alone in the basement? Whose bright idea was that?” Harry sounded irritated at Weasley, which made Draco smirk, before all of Harry’s words sunk in. Teddy was Harry’s godson? Draco hadn’t known that…he was aware that Harry had been friends with his cousin Nymphadora and their former professor, the werewolf, but it hadn’t crossed Draco’s mind that Harry was father material…

‘ _Godfather material,’_ Draco corrected, looking down at Teddy.

“He’s not alone Harry,” It was Longbottom who spoke this time, “Malfoy’s down there with him, he’s watching…well he’s watching Ron, Fred and George and-”

There was a stampede in the room above, and Draco wasn’t sure exactly how many people were actually in the building…but he was aware that they were coming downstairs.

Draco turned away from the stunned bodies on the floor and towards the staircase.

Just in time to narrowly avoid a jet of bright red light as it streaked past his ear and into the wall behind him.

‘ _I’m being attacked!’_ Draco’s eyes widened as he looked up at a trio of murderous looking Weasleys. ‘ _Oh sweet Merlin, how many older brothers does Weasley have?’_

Before Draco could think any farther, another curse was shot at him. Teddy was screaming in his arms as Draco ran out of cursing range and into the corner of the dungeon. _‘I take back every Weasley joke I’ve ever made, just don’t let them kill me!’_

Just when he thought he was going to get retribution for his Hogwarts years of teasing Weasley, the rest of the stampede rushed down the stairs. It was odd because it looked like the entire Order of the Phoenix was piling into the dungeon…including those he knew were quite dead. Most notably his former professor, who looked more ragged and tired than he had before he had been killed. But instead of stopping the bloodthirsty Weasleys, the adults looked at Draco before raising their wands and cursing at him.

Draco didn’t have time to think of anything as he turned his body to shield Teddy, raising his hand quickly, “ _Protego!”_

The shield was able to deflect most of the curses, giving Draco the chance to adjust his grip on Teddy so he could cast spells better. He was now glad he had let Harry talk him into learning wandless magic, he just never thought that he would have to use it against people who were already dead…

_“Bombarda!”_

_“Protego!”_

_“Stupefy!”_

_“Expelliarmus!”_

_“Duro!”_

_“Protego!” ‘Protego…Protego…Dear Merlin, they’re going to kill Teddy and me!’_ Draco was terrified for himself as well as for the crying child in his arms. There were just too many people attacking him for Draco to fight them all off… with one last shield, Draco turned his back to his attackers, hoping to maybe shield Teddy with his body, _‘Please don’t let it hurt too much…’_

But no pain came. There was a long period of quiet where no curses were thrown, no shouting, only the sounds of Teddy’s crying and heavy breathing could be heard. Curious, Draco turned his head to look behind him.

Only so see the back of a very familiar head of black hair.

 _‘Harry…’_   Draco felt his lips tug and resisted the urge to attempt to smile, lest he frighten Teddy even more, but he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief and, dare he say it, _joy_ at the sight of the Gryffindor hero…but perhaps it was the fact that he was the reason Draco wasn’t dead yet.

“Harry, step aside,” One of the older Weasleys, Casper or Charlemagne or something, growled. Draco couldn’t remember the man’s name, only that he looked like he could possibly break the blonde in half with his bare hands.

Harry shook his head, keeping his arms out wide, “None of these people are your enemies Charlie. I’ve been trying to tell all of you that!”

Sirius Black, who was supposed to be dead, looked at Harry with a stunned expression, “But Harry, he’s-”

“Trust me!” Harry insisted, “They’re all from my world.”

 _‘His world?’_ Draco thought, curious. He shook his head, instead turning to comfort Teddy again.

“Harry…” Arthur Weasley started, wary.

Harry slowly put his arms, “Just give me 10 minutes to explain everything to them. If we haven’t come out of the basement in 10 minutes, you can come down after us…please, just trust me.”

The Order looked skeptical. With a sigh, Harry pointed at Draco, “How many Deatheaters do you know would protect a baby with their own lives?”

Finally, the adults consented to Harry’s request and managed to drag the rabid Weasleys up the stairs, pausing only to gather the bodies of the stunned before leaving Harry with Draco, Teddy, Weasley, Granger and Longbottom.

“Harry,” Granger sighed, “Please, just tell us what’s going on.”

Harry took a deep breath, “You’re not going to believe this, but…”

 

* * *

 

 

“…and that’s why everyone is still alive for the most part.” Harry watched his friends’ reactions as he finished explaining everything to them, waiting for a backlash of questions and comments.

Hermione looked like she had discovered a new section of the library, but it was all in a foreign language. Ron just looked like he wanted to go to bed…or eat his weight in food… then go to bed.

Neville looked to be in shock, and Harry didn’t blame him. Ron and Hermione were at least used to be dragged on odd adventures more than once. Neville had only gone with him so far as the Ministry of Magic. And it didn’t help that he was hearing his parents’ voices for the first time.

Draco looked like he was taking the news rather well. He didn’t look like he wanted to insist on going home or exclaim that he didn’t belong in a war…and the way he was holding Teddy, he looked like he belonged in the kitchen.

The mere image of Draco in a kitchen almost made Harry snort, but he knew it was not the time or place for such things.

“We better get upstairs to the rest of the Order, they’ll want an explanation as well…,” Harry sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly, “Damn it, now I’m starting to understand why Dumbledore avoided explaining things, it’s so exhausting…”

Ron chuckled, “You gunna start talking in riddles too mate?”

Harry shook his head, “There isn’t enough firewhiskey in the world to get me that drunk Ron.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Boys…” she muttered.

Harry chuckled, “Come on, let’s-”

The door to the basement opened and Harry could see Tonks standing in the doorway.

“Time’s up Harry.” She said.

Harry smiled, “Perfect, we were just heading up.” He looked back at his friends, only to have his eyes stay on Neville. Suddenly his heart dropped into his stomach. The moment Neville would be introduced, Alice and Frank may very well attack Neville in a fit of joy and tears…and Neville wouldn’t even know why. “On second thought, Tonks. could you take Hermione, Ron and Draco up to the study? I’ll be up in a moment.” He rested a hand on Neville’s shoulder.

Tonks raised an eyebrow, “Did you always call me by my surname?” she asked, then shrugged, “But oh well, come along. Dumbledore is eager to meet you all.”

Hermione and Ron looked at Harry before heading up the stairs, Draco close behind them.

“Ron, make sure no one kills Draco, he’s holding my godson.” Harry joked, and Ron rolled his eyes before leaving with Tonks and the others.

Neville looked at Harry, “Thanks Harry…I think I needed a little more time to comprehend what’s happening…”

Harry sighed, “Neville, there’s something else I need to tell you, just you.” He knew that Neville may be shocked or horrified at what Harry was about to tell him, but Harry knew what it felt like to go into a situation blind, and he wanted Neville to know everything he needed to.

“What could you possibly have to tell me that you wouldn’t tell Hermione or Ron?” Neville blinked, confused to say the least.

Harry sat down on the bottom step of the stair case, “Have a seat Neville…this could be a long story…”

The other man looked at him oddly, but none the less sat down beside Harry.

Harry took a deep breath, “You remember in fifth year when we fought at the Ministry over that prophecy?” He decided to start simple and work from there.

Neville nodded, “Of course, the one that talked about you being the one to kill Voldemort.” He smiled softly, his eyes losing focus as he became lost in the memory, “It was the first time I felt like I was a Gryffindor…”

Harry cleared his throat, trying not to let Neville’s heartfelt moment distract him, “Well that’s not exactly what it said. It talked about who could be the one to defeat Voldemort…” At Neville’s confused expression, Harry continued, “He would be born at the end of July, to parents who had defied Voldemort three times and lived to tell about it-”

“Harry.” Harry looked at Neville, “Why are you telling me this Harry?”

“Because Neville,” Harry closed his eyes tiredly, “At the time the prophecy was told, back when my parents were killed, there were two boys that fit that criteria.”

Neville raises his eyebrows, “There was someone else who could have defeated Voldemort? Who?”

Harry opened his eyes and looked evenly at Neville, “When’s your birthday Neville?”

“It’s…the 30th of July…” Neville’s eyes widened as comprehension dawned on his face, “Oh Harry, surely you don’t mean I was the other boy…”

Harry nodded slowly, “You could have been the Boy Who Lived, but you aren’t because Voldemort chose me as his equal. Once he attacked me, you were safe from the prophecy.”

Neville took several deep breaths, “…I’m glad it was you Harry…” he said softly.

Harry chuckled, “No doubt you do, after all the trouble I’ve gotten myself into…”

“I don’t mean that,” Neville insisted, looking at Harry, “I don’t know if I could have handled all that attention without turning into some horrible snob or pompous bastard.” He chuckled softly, “You had the entire world on your shoulders and you were still a better man than most could even imagine.”

“You’re giving me far too much credit.” Harry started.

Neville shook his head, “No, I’m not. I’ve watched you from the sidelines for years Harry, and I’ve seen the way you’ve modestly handled you’re fame, gracefully accept defeat and you’ve approached the most dangerous situations with a level of maturity that most adults never have.” Neville smiled softly, “You’ve been like that since you were 11 Harry. Others may say you were immature for breaking rules, but I don’t think I can remember a time when you didn’t have some reason for stepping outside the thinking of a rulebook…”

Harry stared at Neville for a minute or so before continuing, “Neville, the reason I’m telling you about this prophecy now is because of the fact I wasn’t born in this world.”

The other man blinked, “And if you weren’t born in this world…”

“That meant there was only one option for the prophecy.” Harry finished.

“…So the me in this world is the Boy Who Lived?” Neville asked curiously.

Harry flinched, “He would have been…if he had lived.” Harry didn’t look at Neville as he continued, “For reasons I don’t know, you were killed when you were a year old. The Frank and Alice Longbottom of this world have been mourning the loss of their son for 17 years…they haven’t had their son anymore than you’ve had your parents.”

Neville was looking up at the ceiling, “At least I got to have my parents; I was just visiting them this morning….” He whispered, “You deserve to have your parents more than I do…”

Harry smiled, “Neville, I’ve got my parents too. James and Lily are upstairs in the study with the others. It’s been a bit awkward, but we’re getting along fine. We haven’t had a group hug or anything, but that’s fine with all three of us...”

Harry watched as Neville covered his eyes with his hands, still looking up at the ceiling. Neville said nothing for the longest time, biting his lip as he took a shaky breath in. Harry could see a wet shimmer streak down the side of Neville’s face as his friend sat in silence.

After a few minutes, Neville hurriedly wiped his eyes, trying to keep from sniffling as he spoke, “Promise you won’t tell the others about this?”

Harry smiled, “Tell the others about what?”

Neville smiled, “Thanks Harry…you’re a real friend.”

“Thanks, you too Neville.” Harry stood up before offering Neville his hand, “Now come on, I’m sure the Order is about ready to kill Draco for being a Malfoy.”

 

* * *

 

 

Neville’s mind was swimming with what Harry had just told him. He had been a mere decision away from being the one chosen to kill Voldemort, and for that reason, he had been killed as an infant here in this alternate reality.

To think the first words he would remember his mother saying were ‘ _Frank’s still missing too…_ ’ Then Neville realized that he had been the reason why his father had been missing. He had stunned his own father, not to mention that Mad-Eye wouldn’t be happy with him when he woke up…

Harry led him up a few flights of stairs to a study, “Dumbledore has everyone meet in here whenever there’s something important or something.” He said with a chuckle before opening the door.

The room was very full to say the least. Everyone who had been stunned had been revived, which now meant that Ron had a twin, and his father was standing beside his mother, neither of whom knew that Neville was their son…yet.

Ron and Hermione were standing in the center of the room, in front of the desk that Dumbledore was seated at. Malfoy looked like he had been forced to sit on the floor in between Ron and Hermione, and the blonde was clutching Teddy tightly.

It was odd behavior for Malfoy to be sure, at least to Neville. Then Neville remembered that the Order had only refrained from killing Malfoy was because he had Teddy.

 _‘Teddy’s Malfoy’s character witness…’_ Neville mused as he and Harry walked into the room.

Once the door to the study shut behind them, Neville watched as Dumbledore stood to address the group.

“It would appear,” He began, looking at Neville and the rest of the Harry’s friends, “That we have new guests.” Neville could almost feel a ripple of awkward acceptance at Dumbledore’s words: that the Order would accept them, but they wouldn’t trust them. “Now Harry, you’ve placed your trust in these young people, I believe it is only fitting that you introduce them to us.”

Harry chuckled, “Well to make a long story short: these guys are from my world, so I know I can trust them.” He quickly went over to Ron and rested a hand on his shoulder, “I don’t know much about your Ron, but the Ron Weasley in my world has been by my side since the beginning, and all the adventures I’ve told you all about, he’s been there with me fighting and avoiding danger when possible.”

Ron rolled his eyes, “If it was possible Harry, which it wasn’t.”

Neville could see the other Weasley’s sparing a glance at their own Ron, who seemed to be shrinking back away from the attention. It was odd, seeing Ron (or at least a version of Ron) so soft spoken…but then again, things were different in this world…

Harry smiled, and Neville watched as he rested his free hand on Hermione’s back, “And this is Ron’s better half, Hermione Granger. There’s nothing that she doesn’t know or that she won’t find out for the sake of a mystery or an adventure. I shudder to think what would have become of me without her guidance.”

Hermione jabbed at Harry’s ribs, ignoring his wincing from his burns, “You sound like you’re speaking at my funeral Harry.”

“Yeah, but at least he has nice things to say.” Ron smiled at Hermione. Hermione blushed and Neville resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He wasn’t sure what was better: the bickering or the flirting.

Harry shared a look with Neville and he could tell that Harry was thinking around the same thing as he walked over to Neville.

“I’ve had a lot of help in my world in the fight against Voldemort.” Harry said with a smile, “In a lot of ways…”

Neville looked at Harry, and he could see what he was doing. Harry was trying to stall telling the Order who he was. He smiled and nodded to Harry, urging him to continue.

Harry gave a small nod back to Neville, “I really don’t know how to put this delicately, but um… this is Neville Longbottom.” He finished lamely.

There was a collective intake of breath from around the room, ranging from amazed breaths to stunned gasps, and quiet murmurs soon followed. Neville didn’t trust himself to look over at where his parents were standing; he was too nervous and too uneasy at what their reactions would be. Instead he looked at Harry, trying to calm himself down, lest he start crying again.

This time it was Harry’s turn to nod to Neville, “Go ahead Neville,” he whispered, “Go ahead and look…”

With a deep breath, Neville turned his head to look at his parents.

His mother was already walking towards him, her steps slow and hesitant, while her husband stayed behind her, wary. Neville didn’t blame them, to him he was getting his sane parents back, but to them, their son was coming back from the dead…but they had missed his childhood.

‘ _Well I guess now I have someone who will listen to me when I tell them stories.’_ Neville mused as Alice Longbottom stood in front of him.

She was shorter than him, but that was to be expected. “…Are you really Neville?” She asked quietly. “Are you really my son?”

Neville gave a small smile, trying to keep from biting his lip, “I was Neville when I woke up this morning…” He almost wanted to laugh at himself. After all these years of wanting to be able to really talk to his parents and the first thing he says to his mom was ‘ _I was Neville when I woke up this morning’_? Well, it could have been worse; he could have accidently spewed about the time he passed out in second year from the Mandrakes…

He was cut off from his mental ramblings when he felt two arms wrap around his middle. Neville looked down at his mother, hugging him tightly and, judging from the wet spots forming on his jacket, having a tearful reunion. After a slow moment, Neville wrapped his arms around his mother and buried his face in her hair.

She didn’t smell like the sterile environment of St. Mungo’s, her hair wasn’t cut short to keep her from hurting herself, she wasn’t wearing a hospital gown and slippers, she wasn’t handing him candy wrappers as her only display of affection…she wasn’t insane…

She could talk, she could listen, her eye could focus, and for the first time Neville could remember, they were focused on him.

Neville was aware that the rest of the room was watching, but they could go tickle a sleeping dragon for all he cared, he had his parents back.

From where he stood watching, Harry smiled warmly.

**Author's Note:**

> So hopefully my writing from when I was a teenager isn't too terrible, and who knows, maybe you guys will enjoy this!


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